SCOTLAND

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join the Office do so on an assignment, secondment or loan agreement from other Government bodies, but principally from the Scottish Government or the Ministry of Justice.
	The Scotland Office is not responsible for end of year performance payments and does not hold information centrally on these matters. The Office is however able to directly authorise non-consolidated and non-pensionable bonus payments (including small and instantaneous awards, eg vouchers) in recognition of special effort, achievement and commitment. No bonus payments have been suspended or removed in the last five years.

Wilson Review

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he plans to publish the Wilson Review.

Michael Moore: The Wilson Review of support for Scottish exporting is currently scheduled to submit its report to me this autumn. The Government will then consider their findings and recommendations before publishing it before the end of 2013.

WALES

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office does not generate statistical analysis that would require us to use such indices.

National Assembly for Wales

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what considerations have been made with regards to renaming the National Assembly for Wales the Parliament of Wales.

David Jones: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 15 May 2013, Official Report, columns 625-26, to my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant).

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right, and adopts the policies of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The MOJ has no policy for claiming back bonuses and, as such, no bonus payments have been returned in the last five years.

PRIME MINISTER

Honours

Frank Field: To ask the Prime Minister if he will establish a single honours list each year rewarding the giving of money to charitable works and foundations and to honour equally those who similarly generously give their time to charitable activity.

David Cameron: Two honours committees already exist that perform these tasks: the Philanthropy Honours Committee and the Community, Voluntary and Local Services Honours Committee. Candidates recommended for honours by both these committees appear in the new year and birthday honours lists.

Lynton Crosby

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether Mr Lynton Crosby is classified as a Government special adviser; and whether he has been subjected to (a) all forms of personnel security control, (b) a counter terrorism check, (c) a security check and (d) developed vetting;
	(2)  whether Mr Lynton Crosby is allocated an office in No. 10 Downing Street; whether he has a Government email address; and if he will list the Government buildings to which he has a security pass.

David Cameron: Mr Lynton Crosby is not employed by the Government. He does not have an office in No. 10 Downing street, a Government e-mail address or a security pass to any Government building.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance her Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in her Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: Staff employed by my Department are on Ministry of Justice (MOJ) terms and conditions. As such, they may be eligible to receive performance-related bonuses at the end of the reporting year. In line with MOJ performance management policies, such bonuses are only paid where there is clear evidence of outstanding and exceptional performance throughout the previous reporting year. There is, therefore, no requirement for processes to suspend, remove or claw back bonuses and there has been no occasion when this has occurred.

TRANSPORT

Directly Operated Railways

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of staffing levels at Directly Operated Railways for the next two years; and what the job description will be for each grade.

Simon Burns: We do not anticipate any change in staffing levels for Directly Operated Railways' core functions from those published in the latest accounts at:
	www.directlyoperatedrailways.co.uk
	This level of resource will be adjusted if further work is necessary in connection with fulfilling the Secretary of State's duties under section 30 of the Railways Act 1993.

Directly Operated Railways

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes in legislation would be required to allow Directly Operated Railways to permanently operate franchised rail passenger services.

Simon Burns: The Department has not analysed in detail what changes in legislation would be required to allow this.
	The current statutory regime under section 26 Railways Act 1993 is that the Secretary of State for Transport may select the person who is to be the franchisee in relation to a franchise agreement from among those who submit tenders in response to an invitation to tender and the Secretary of State intends to select all franchise operators in this way unless the exceptions set out in his section 26 policy statement apply.
	Directly Operated Railways (DOR) was set up to act as the "operator of last resort" in the event that Secretary of State needs to step in to secure the provision of rail passenger services in accordance with his duty under section 30 of the Railways Act 1993. Section 25 of the same Act would prevent DOR from itself responding to invitation to tenders to operate franchised rail passenger services. In order to allow DOR to permanently operate passenger rail services these provisions of domestic law at a minimum would need to be changed and we would also have to be mindful of European law regarding procurement and competition.

Directly Operated Railways

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by Directly Operated Railways in the last two years; and what roles were performed by each grade of staff.

Simon Burns: The number of staff employed at Directly Operated Railways along with the activities that are undertaken by the company in any given year are published in their annual report and accounts which are available on the company's website at:
	www.directlyoperatedrailways.co.uk

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answer of 11 March 2013, Official Report, column 20W, on high speed 2 railway line, when he plans to publish the draft environmental statement.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, issued a written ministerial statement to the House about HS2 Phase One Consultations today.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to assist British companies to win contracts for the construction and manufacture of tracks, locomotives and carriages for the proposed High Speed 2 service.

Simon Burns: The Government's National Infrastructure Plan makes clear the importance of a predictable and transparent pipeline of infrastructure projects, which helps British companies gear up for and respond to opportunities. HS2 forms a key element of that long-term pipeline.
	As the HS2 project moves forward, the Government will do all they can to ensure that companies with a British presence are well placed to compete for future contracts.

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Norman Baker: There are many contracts in my Department and its agencies which are linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). These include PFI service payments, the Severn River Crossing loan and grants to Passenger Transport Executives and Network Rail. Many of these payments are contractually linked to a specified inflation measure so we cannot change to an inflation measure that produces different payment amounts without reopening the contract.
	Other major uses of the RPI by my Department are in annually inflating Network Rail's Regulated Asset Base (RAB), calculating the annual permitted increase in regulated rail fares using an RPI related formula and in re-letting franchises, where an assumption on RPI is a fundamental element of the bid.
	Many of the Department’s models which forecast transport demand and network congestion use both the RPI and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator, as published by HM Treasury. Various inflation indices are used in appraisal of policies, in particular in Impact Assessments. This is often the GDP deflator, to calculate figures on a comparable price base but the inflation index used should be explained in all published Impact Assessments.
	Other inflation indices used include Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) which is used as an index for labour related costs in some franchise agreements, resource cost index of road construction (ROCOS) which is used in valuation of the road network and regional land and building indices (derived from RICS market appraisal) which are used by the Highways Agency to value freehold land and buildings yearly.

Merchant Shipping (Diving Safety) Regulations 2002

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next plans to discuss repeal of the Merchant Shipping (Diving Safety) Regulations 2002 with officials from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); and if he will publish the (a) dates and (b) minutes of all previous meetings his Department has held with HSE officials to discuss that subject.

Stephen Hammond: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) notified the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of their proposal to revoke the Merchant Shipping (Diving Safety) Regulations 2002 as part of the liaison between the HSE and the MCA on the Red Tape Challenge in October 2011 and January 2012. No meetings have been held to discuss this specific proposal to date; however, a more detailed discussion will be held prior to any changes to the regulations.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Norman Baker: The Department does not provide bonus payments. However, a small element of salary is “held back” and must be re-earned for staff working in the Department and some of its executive agencies. This takes the form of a performance related non-consolidated payment which must be re-earned by staff annually.
	Performance awards are paid in retrospect meaning that performance must be agreed and signed off before performance payments are made. As a result the DfT does not need to claw back payments and there have been no instances of this happening in the last five years.

Railways: Franchises

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes in legislation would be required to allow Network Rail to permanently operate franchised rail passenger services.

Simon Burns: Network Rail does not operate rail passenger services. It operates the rail network and infrastructure, by maintaining and developing rail tracks, signalling, bridges, tunnels, level crossings, viaducts and certain stations.
	The Department has not analysed what changes in legislation would be required to allow Network Rail to take over the operation of franchised passenger services. Current domestic and EU law and policy has as an objective the separation of rail infrastructure from service provision and this degree of separation is proposed to be increased further in the 4th Railway Package. This is for reasons including the prevention of conflicts of interest and the promotion of competition for services.

Railways: Franchises

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the implications for the domestic rail (a) industry and (b) staff of the European Commission's Fourth Rail Package requirement for EU member states to regularly tender all or some of their rail passenger services; and what the current deadline is for transposing this requirement into UK law.

Simon Burns: The Department for Transport is still considering the implications of this EU proposal. However, the European Commission has carried out its own impact assessment which was published alongside the EU proposal. This is available on the European Commission's website at
	http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2013:0011:FIN:EN:PDF
	There is no current deadline for the entry into force of the final regulation relating to the tendering of rail passenger services: EU regulations have direct effect and would not generally need to be transposed into UK law.

Railways: Franchises

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in respect of the current negotiations between his Department and the incumbent franchisee for an extended rail passenger service contract for the (a) Essex Thameside, (b) Thameslink, (c) Inter City West Coast, (d) Great Western, (e) Greater Anglia, (f) Northern, (g) London Midland, (h) East Midlands and (i) South Eastern lines, which of these existing contracts currently require revenue support; and what the amount of such support is in each case.

Simon Burns: The most recent available figures, for 2011-12, had the following contracts requiring revenue support:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 (b) FCC (Thameslink) 32.1 
			 (c) Intercity West Coast 44.0 
			 (d) Greater Western 209.4 
			 (h) East Midlands 25.7 
			 (i) LSER (South Eastern) 48.9 
		
	
	The following contracts did not require revenue support:
	(a) C2C (Essex Thameside);
	(e) Greater Anglia;
	(f) Northern; and
	(g) LOM (London Midland).
	Please note that more recent figures, for 2012-13, are not available yet as we have not reconciled them to the statutory accounts for the respective train operating companies.

Railways: Franchises

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in respect of the current negotiations between his Department and the incumbent franchisee for an extended rail passenger service contract for the (a) Essex Thameside, (b) Thameslink, (c) Inter City West Coast, (d) Great Western, (e) Greater Anglia, (f) Northern, (g) London Midland, (h) East Midlands and (i) South Eastern lines, what assessment he has made of the (i) amount and (ii) duration of revenue support the franchisee will require under the extended contract in each case; and whether the Office for Rail Regulation plans to publish this information.

Simon Burns: In all discussions with incumbent operators, whether to extend the current franchise or enter into a new directly awarded franchise, the financial position of each franchise will be a key consideration. The premium paid to government or subsidy required will be published at the time each franchise award is announced, as will the commercial terms of the award, including whether the government retains any revenue risk.

Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies procured from companies based in Scotland of a value in excess of £25,000 since May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such procurement contract.

Norman Baker: Neither the Department for Transport nor its non-departmental public bodies holds information on what has been procured from companies based in Scotland. Information is not held on the cost to the public purse of each such procurement contract.

JUSTICE

Prisons: Discipline

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what types of rewards are afforded to prisoners; and whether prisons have a minimum criterion for the requisite level of prisoner behaviour before distribution of such rewards.

Jeremy Wright: We announced changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme on 30 April. Prisoners will now have to contribute actively to their own rehabilitation, help others and continue to behave well if they are to earn privileges above the basic level, rather than simply avoiding bad behaviour. Convicted prisoners will have a longer working day and will not be allowed to watch television when they should be engaged in work or other purposeful activity. They will have to earn the right to wear their own clothes and spend money brought into the prison for them.
	The key earnable privileges, which must be included in local IEP schemes to the extent deemed appropriate for the different privilege levels, are:
	Extra and improved visits
	Eligibility to earn higher rates of pay
	Access to in-cell television
	Opportunity to wear own clothes
	Access to private cash
	Time out of cell for association
	In addition to the key earnable privileges, establishments may make other privileges and incentives available to suitable prisoners according to local circumstances.

Prisons: Mental Health Services

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of mental health in-reach teams (MHIRTs) in each prison over the last five years; and what the health outcomes of MHIRTs for prisoners are.

Norman Lamb: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many contracts for the running of prisons have used the social value clauses in the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 since that Act came into force.

Jeremy Wright: Given that the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 came into force in January 2013 there are no current prisons contracts that contain the social value clauses.

TREASURY

Bank Notes

Mark Tami: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of how many £5 notes (a) are currently in circulation and (b) were in circulation in each of the previous four years.

Sajid Javid: The issue of banknotes is the responsibility of the Bank of England. The following table shows the numbers of £5 notes in circulation, based on Bank of England data.
	
		
			  Estimated total number of £5 notes in circulation (million) 
			 2009 260 
			 2010 293 
			 2011 327 
			 2012 354 
			 2013 365 
		
	
	Please note that the figure for the number of £5 notes in 2009 only represents Bank of England notes. Before 2009, commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland were not obliged to declare the number of notes in circulation by denomination.
	Since 2011, the Bank of England has worked with financial institutions to increase the quantity and quality of £5 notes in circulation.

Financial Services: Regulation

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Financial Conduct Authority to publish the results of the consultation exercise CP12-19; and whether he expects venture capital trusts to be included within the scope of the new regulations banning the promotion of unregulated collective investment schemes.

Sajid Javid: The Financial Conduct Authority has announced that it is minded to explicitly exclude venture capital trusts from the restrictions on promotion proposed in consultation CP 12-19. The FCA is working toward making a final policy statement in June.

Fuels: Prices

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of differential fuel pump prices in rural areas; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The retail price of petrol and diesel is affected by a range of factors, and varies across the regions of the UK.
	Motorists on the Scottish islands and the Isles of Scilly are benefiting from a 5p per litre discount on pump prices since the Government introduced the rural fuel rebate pilot scheme last year.
	The Government will consider whether to seek EU approval for an extension of the scheme to remote parts of the UK that are likely to display similar cost characteristics to the islands.

Individual Savings Accounts

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have more than (a) £100,000, (b) £500,000 and (c) £1 million in an individual savings account.

Sajid Javid: The information is as follows:
	(a) An estimated 430,000 individuals had ISA accounts with market values of at least £100,000 in 2010-11, the latest year for which statistical estimates are available.
	(b) (c) Robust estimates of ISA market values above £500,000 is not separately available because of the limitations of the statistical sample from which the analysis has been drawn.

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Sajid Javid: This information is published alongside the Budget each year in Annex A of the ‘Policy Costings’ document. For Budget 13, this is available online via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/188367/budget2013_policy_costings.pdf.pdf

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: Suspension or removal of the bonus may take place following disciplinary action on a case by case basis. HM Treasury does not operate a claw back bonus system. There have been no bonus removals or suspensions in the last five years.

Public Expenditure: Ministry of Defence

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the current financial delegations for the Ministry of Defence.

Danny Alexander: As set out in Managing Public Money, the Ministry of Defence has delegated authority to permit expenditure up to an agreed limit, depending on the category of spend, which is reviewed on an annual basis. The nature of the delegated control for Departments can be found in Annex 2.3 of Managing Public Money via the following link:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/mpm_annex2.3.pdf
	Delegated authority excludes any novel and contentious expenditure for all Departments.

Tonnage Tax

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the UK's annual (a) imports and (b) exports in each year since 2000-01 were accounted for by vessels in the tonnage tax scheme.

Sajid Javid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 11 July 2012, Official Report, column 221W.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Altaf Hussain

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports she has received from the Metropolitan Police on recent television broadcasts made from London by Altaf Hussain; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: As with any alleged criminal activity, this is an operational matter for the police. Anybody with information about an individual inciting hatred or violence should report the matter to the police.

Altaf Hussain

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the recent televisual appearances of Altaf Hussain; and whether these appearances will have any consequence for his citizenship.

James Brokenshire: Any alleged criminal activity is an operational matter for the police. Anybody with information about an individual inciting hatred or violence should report the matter to the police.
	Considerations in relation to citizenship are undertaken by the Immigration Enforcement Directorate. The British Nationality Act (1981) (as amended by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006) allows for an individual to be deprived of their British citizenship by the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is considered conducive to the public good to do so or where deception has occurred in the acquisition of the citizenship.

Asylum

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of asylum applicants were granted (a) asylum or humanitarian protection and (b) neither in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The table shows the total number of asylum applications received in each of the last five years, and what proportion of asylum applicants are estimated to have been (i) granted asylum, (ii) granted humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, (iii) refusals, and (iv) cases where a decision was not known for the years 2007 to 2011, as at May 2012 when the statistics were compiled. Figures relate to main applicants only, and include the outcome of appeals.
	Figures for 2012 will be published in the Immigration Statistics April to June 2013 release on 29 August 2013.
	The data presented above, are published in table as.06 (Asylum data tables Volume 2) of Immigration Statistics. The latest release Immigration Statistics October to December 2012 is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2012/
	
		
			 Table 1: Estimated outcome analysis of asylum applications, as at May 2012 
			 Year of application(1) Total main applicants Grants of asylum as a percentage of applications Grants of HP/DL as a percentage of applications(2) Refusals as a percentage of applications Cases decision not known as a percentage of applications(3) 
			 2007 23,431 25 10 60 4 
			 2008 25,932 27 11 58 4 
			 2009 24,487 28 11 58 3 
			 2010 17,916 28 9 60 3 
			 2011 19,865 30 7 50 13 
			 (1) Year relates to the period in which the application was made; the actual initial decision and/or appeal may have occurred in a different year. (2) HP = Humanitarian protection DL =Discretionary Leave. Figures shown include grants of Discretionary Leave. (3) ‘Cases with decision not known’ reflect that no confirmation of a decision on the case/appeal had been received when the statistics were compiled on 7 May 2012. Note: Provisional data.

Entry Clearances: China

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision for biometric facilities there is in China for Chinese nationals applying for a visa to visit the UK.

Mark Harper: There are 12 visa application centres in mainland China where applicants make their visa application—including enrolling their biometric information. They are located in the following cities: Beijing, Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. These are managed by our commercial partner, VFS Global. We also have a visa application centre in Hong Kong, which is operated by the Home Office out of the consulate general in Hong Kong.

Entry Clearances: India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the same-day business visa service for Indian nationals announced by the Prime Minister in February 2013 to be introduced.

Mark Harper: The same-day visa service for India was launched on 14 May 2013, and went live on 15 May 2013. The service is available in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter to her dated 2 April 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr T.N. Tchinda.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 14 May 2013.

Plants: Imports

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff have the expertise to identify exotic diseases on imported plant material entering the UK.

Mark Harper: Border Force staff do not have the expertise to identify exotic diseases on imported plant material. The Food and Environment Research Agency (an agency of DEFRA) has overall responsibility for inspectorate functions in relation to plant heath.

Police: Festivals and Special Occasions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent changes have been made to national guidance on the charges levied for the policing of (a) festivals with up to 5,000 attendees, (b) festivals with between 5,000 and 12,000 attendees and (c) festivals with more than 12,000 attendees.

Damian Green: The guidance produced by the Home Office in relation to charging for special police services can be found in a Home Office circular 009/2011 which is available on the National Archives website at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk
	This guidance was last updated in August 2011.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to authorise the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence gathering by UK law enforcement agencies; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: Use of unmanned aerial vehicles would need to comply with existing Civil Aviation Authority regulations. Covert use by a public authority likely to obtain private information, including by any law enforcement agency, would be subject to authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
	That Act requires that covert investigatory techniques are used only if they are necessary and proportionate for purposes such as preventing or detecting crime or in the interests of national security. It makes deployment subject to independent overview, inspection and right to redress in case of individual complaint. Any overt use of a surveillance camera system in a public place in England or Wales will be subject to a new code of practice prepared under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, on which the Home Office is currently considering its response to statutory consultation.

CABINET OFFICE

Cabinet

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the cost was of the extension of the size of the table at which the Cabinet meets.

Francis Maude: In line with the practice of previous Administrations, running costs of No. 10 are published in the Cabinet Office annual accounts.

Equal Opportunities

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what outcome his Department seeks in order to meet its commitment to developing a workforce that is representative of the population it serves.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office is committed to developing a workforce that best meets the needs of the population.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will publish the full Major Projects Authority report into High Speed 2 which carries a red/amber classification.

Chloe Smith: holding answer 14 May 2013
	The Government announced their transparency policy for major projects data 25 February 2013. Further details can be found here:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psr_treasury_minutes.htm

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Francis Maude: This information is published alongside the Budget each year in Annex A of the Policy Costings document.
	For Budget 13, this is available online via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/188367/budget2013_policy_costings.pdf.pdf

Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what discussions he has had with interested parties on IP address transparency.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 13 May 2013
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	Home Office Ministers have meetings with a variety of organisations and individuals, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

Migration

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Office for National Statistics will issue revised Long Term International Migration Statistics for the period between the 2001 and 2011 censuses in line with its revised annual population estimates.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Office for National Statistics will issue revised Long Term International Migration Statistics for the period between the 2001 and the 2011 censuses in line with its revised annual population estimates
	The results of the 2011 Census enabled ONS to compare the census estimates with the mid-year population estimates. The population estimates use long-term international migration data as a component of the estimate. The comparison with census estimates led to revisions to the rolled forward mid-year population estimates from the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2010. This included a revision to the net migration component, focussed on the middle part of the decade before improvements were made to the International Passenger Survey in 2009. This provides a revised series of net migration for the inter-censal period.
	Revised net migration figures published as components of change in revised population estimates can be found in table 10 at the following link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-england-and-wales/mid-2002-to-mid-2010-revised--subnational-/rft---mid-2002-to-mid-2010-revised-tables.zip

Ministerial Policy Advisers: Vetting

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many candidates for special adviser posts have not been appointed because they have not received security clearance since May 2010; how many special advisers have had their security clearance (a) withdrawn or (b) suspended since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 138W.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office only awards bonuses to our highest performing members of staff for their performance over the previous reporting year and a rigorous moderation process is undertaken to decide who is awarded a bonus.
	We have not removed bonuses from any official over the past five years.
	Since 2010-11 the Government have restricted performance related payments for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (down from 65% before the last general election).

Ministerial Meetings

Aidan Burley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  if the Permanent Secretary of his Department has held any (a) briefing sessions, (b) private meetings and (c) lunches or dinners with journalists and newspaper editors when he or Ministers in his Department were not present in the last year;
	(2)  what meetings have been held between the (a) Cabinet Secretary, (b) Head of the Civil Service or (c) Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and any newspaper journalist or editor in the last year.

Francis Maude: Details of hospitality received and meetings held by the Cabinet Secretary, the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary with external organisations, including media proprietors, editors and senior executives, are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed on gov.uk at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-permanent-secretaries-meetings-with-external-organisations-2012

Publications

Ann McKechin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department spent on subscriptions to academic journals published by (a) Reed-Elsevier, (b) Wiley-Blackwell, (c) Springer and (d) any other academic publisher in each of the last five years.

Francis Maude: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	As part of the Department's transparency programme, it has been Cabinet Office policy since January 2011 to publish details of all contracts with a value of £10,000 or more on Contracts Finder:
	www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
	In addition, this policy extends to Cabinet Office expenditure over £25,000, which is published at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data

Railway Stations: Crime

John Woodcock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many criminal offences were recorded at (a) Barrow and Furness, (b) Roose, (c) Dalton-in-Furness and (d) Ulverston railway station, by category of offence in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many criminal offences were recorded at (a) Barrow and Furness, (b) Roose, (c) Dalton-in-Furness and (d) Ulverston railway station, by category of offence in each of the last five years
	Unfortunately it is not possible for ONS to provide the requested data. ONS does not hold information for crimes recorded at individual railway stations. Information relating to incidents at railway stations is collected by the British Transport Police which are provided to ONS as a composite figure for British Transport Police as a whole, broken down by specific crime types.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Health Education: Sex

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the answer of 23 April 2013, Official Report, column 827W, on health education: sex, when the Government plans to announce its response to the consultation on changing the exemption of educational DVDs from BBFC age ratings.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS has been consulting on the exemptions from age rating in the Video Recordings Act that apply to many music, sports, religious and educational DVDs. The Government expect to publish their response to the consultation shortly, though a specific date for this has not yet been set.

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the purposes for which her Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport uses the retail prices index measure of inflation in some of its procurement contracts that have an annual uplift, which is RPI based. The Department may also, on occasion, use other measures of inflation as required for accounting adjustments or budget planning.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance her Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in her Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's current Conduct and Discipline Policy explicitly lists the withdrawal or withholding of pay increases and/or bonus payments (in whole or in part) as one of the penalties available to a disciplinary panel, for a proven charge of serious or gross misconduct.
	DCMS has not removed or suspended such payment in the last five years.

S4C

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will (a) review the financial position of S4C and (b) institute a fixed funding formula for that channel to facilitate greater stability in financial planning.

Edward Vaizey: Government funding of S4C will be reviewed as part of the spending review. There are no plans to review the financial position of S4C or to institute a fixed funding formula for that channel. We recognise the important contribution that S4C makes to public service broadcasting and the welsh language and the desire for it to be on a stable financial footing. We welcome the agreement with the BBC which took effect from April 2013, meaning that the BBC became S4C's majority funder and has already committed to funding S4C until the end of the current charter and licence fee period in 2016-17. The BBC will conduct a review of S4C strategy and finances by the end of 2014-15.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Local Government: Elections

John Woodcock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the levels of turnout of electors voting (a) by post and (b) in person at the 2013 county council elections.

Chloe Smith: Returning Officers collect information about the number of ballot papers issued and forward it to the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission collates that data and produces turnout figures for each electoral area as well as an overall turnout figure.
	While figures for the May 2013 local elections are not yet available, I understand that the Electoral Commission plans to publish information on turnout once all this data has been received and collated. The Government have not made a separate assessment.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Buildings

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total running costs were for each building used, owned or rented in central London by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, other than buildings such as job centres intended to be used primarily for meetings with members of the public, in each of the last three financial years.

Mark Hoban: The total running costs for eight central London buildings, as requested above, are:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Building Status 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 The Adelphi Vacated June 2012 12,925,411 13,782,576 3,626,309 
			 New Court Vacated March 2012 220,166 270,979 0 
			 Caxton House — 17,466,823 18,695,525 19,506,509 
			 Rose Court — 1,159,839 1,317,890 1,276,026 
			 Welbeck Street Vacated March 2012 2,878,577 3,103,072 0.00 
			 Sanctuary Buildings Vacated December 2012 277,525 285,458 160,533 
			 Total — 34,928,341 37,455,500 24,569,377 
		
	
	Occupation in London has been reduced as part of our ongoing Estates Rationalisation Programme.
	The information for non-departmental public bodies cannot be supplied as it is not held centrally.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when statistics for the Youth Contract wage subsidy scheme will be released;
	(2)  how many employers have received wage subsidy payments under the Youth Contract since April 2012.

Mark Hoban: In most cases the wage incentive element of the Youth Contract is paid after a young person has been in work continuously for 26 weeks. Following the collection and quality assurance of this data, the first set of Official Statistics on the wage incentive should be available in the next few months.
	The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

Enfield

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible has allocated to the London borough of Enfield local authority in each of the last five years.

Mark Hoban: The funding allocated by the Department to the London borough of Enfield local authority in each of the last five financial years is detailed in the following table. There was no funding allocated from any of our non-departmental public bodies.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Housing/council tax benefit subsidy 221,403,775 257,934,959 289,960,973 309,600,539 324,632,319 
			 Housing/council tax benefit administration 3,469,084 3,926,685 3,499,520 3,450,643 3,447,359 
			 Additional funding elements towards administering housing/council tax benefit — 6,315 69,254.60 263,064.58 147,626.24 
			 Discretionary housing payments 146,587 179,013 147,468 186,280 816,298 
			 Local welfare provision set up — — — — 9,107

Homelessness

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will work with homelessness organisations to assess the effectiveness of the toolkit for identification of homelessness by Jobcentre Plus advisers.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the toolkit for identifying homelessness used by Jobcentre Plus advisers.

Mark Hoban: There is no specific toolkit for the identification of homelessness. However, Jobcentre Plus advisers are equipped with the necessary guidance and training to identify and provide an appropriate level of tailored support for the homeless, as well as other disadvantaged groups. As a priority group, the homeless are able to access additional support through Jobcentre Plus advisers to enter employment, including early access to the Work programme. The guidance which supports Jobcentre Plus advisers is subject to regular review to ensure its effectiveness for helping to tackle homelessness and the barriers it creates to employment.

Innovation Fund: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland have been supported by the Innovation Fund; and how many such people have gone on to (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment following participation in the scheme.

Mark Hoban: The information is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics. We will consider whether it is feasible to produce the statistics requested within the disproportionate cost limit, and if so, will issue them in an official statistics release in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time taken to assess a claim for jobseeker's allowance is in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England.

Mark Hoban: The information requested for (a) and (b) is not available in the format required.
	The actual average clearance time for processing a jobseeker’s allowance claim nationally during 2012-13 was 9.74 days.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Croydon

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged 18 to 24 years old in Croydon North constituency had been claiming jobseeker's allowance for more than 12 months in the most recent month for which figures are available; what that figure is as a percentage of (a) all jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 18 to 24 years old and (b) the 18 to 24 years old workforce; and what the change in these figures has been in the last year for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The information for those people in Croydon North parliamentary constituency is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Croydon North parliamentary constituency 
			   April 2012 April 2013 
			  Aged 18-24 claiming JSA over 12 months 125 140 
			 (a) All those claiming JSA aged 18-24 1,290 1,005 
			 (a) Aged 18-24 claiming JSA over 12 months as a % of all aged 18-24 claiming JSA 9.7 13.9 
			 (b) mid 2011 population estimate for people aged 18-24 is 12,894 — — 
			 (b) Aged 18-24 claiming JSA over 12 months as a % of the population aged 18-24 1.0 1.1 
		
	
	
		
			 Notes: 1. Claimant figures are rounded to the nearest 5, percentages to one decimal place. 2. Caseload data is published here and April 2013 is the latest available: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/Default.asp 3. Percentages are calculated using ONS Mid-Term population estimates from the relevant parliamentary constituency which are available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/what-we-do/publication-scheme/published-ad-hoc-data/population/september-2012/mid-2006-to-mid-2010-parliamentary-constituencies-population-estimates-by-single-year-of-age.zip Source: 100% Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems and ONS Mid-Term population estimates 2010.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has two schemes for rewarding good performance:
	end-of-year non-consolidated performance payments; and
	in-year awards.
	The Department uses these payments to motivate and engage employees and ensure added value to business performance.
	These schemes award cash or vouchers to individuals who have performed well throughout the previous year or have carried out a specific piece of work during the year to a high standard. As the awards are based on past performance, it would not be applicable to suspend or remove such a payment.
	The Department has a process in place to recover administrative errors.

Pensioners

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  many pensioners have returned to the Exchequer the cash value of their (a) winter fuel allowance, (b) free television licence and (c) free bus pass in each of the last three years; and what the total amount is that has been reimbursed to the Exchequer for each such benefit in the last three years;
	(2)  how many people have contacted his Department requesting to return to the Exchequer the cash value of their (a) winter fuel allowance, (b) free television licence and (c) free bus pass in each of the last three years.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	Each winter around 12 million customers receive a winter fuel payment, over 95% of these are paid automatically without the need to claim.
	The Department does not keep a record of winter fuel payments returned to the Department.
	Anyone aged 75 or over is entitled to a free TV Licence for their main address. The free licence is not issued automatically and needs to be applied for. Once issued, licences are renewed automatically every year unless the customer does not have a national insurance number in which case TV Licensing will contact them to confirm their circumstances have not changed each year.
	TV Licensing has no record of any over 75 TV licence holders having returned the cash value of their TV licence in any of the last three years nor are they aware of any over 75 TV licence holders having made contact requesting to return the cash value of their TV licence in the same period.
	The concessionary travel benefit is optional. An eligible person can choose not to take up the entitlement. The National Travel Survey 2011 shows that in GB, 79% of people eligible for an older persons' bus pass held one.
	Figures on the take-up of concessionary travel schemes in GB are available online and can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts06-age-gender-and-modal-breakdown

Personal Independence Payment

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) cost savings will be made and (b) benefits for the claimant will result from reassessing personal independence payment claimants who have a degenerative illness.

Esther McVey: Overall spending on personal independence payment and disability living allowance in 2015-16 is forecast to be £13.8 billion in real terms, spending on disability living allowance was £12.5 billion in 2009-10.
	The benefit expenditure forecast is here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure_tables_Budget_2013.xls#'DisabilityBenefits'!A1
	It is not possible to breakdown the costs or savings relating to the reassessment of personal independence payment (PIP) claimants who have particular types of impairment or health condition.
	Under disability living allowance (DLA) there is no systematic award review mechanism. Over 70% of the current DLA caseload has an indefinite award, meaning that individuals' awards may continue for life without ever being checked to see if it still reflects their needs. With PIP we want to ensure that everybody continues to receive the correct level of award and support. People's needs can increase or decrease over time. Therefore most PIP awards will be reviewed at appropriate intervals.
	Ongoing awards can be used in cases where changes, either positive or negative, are unlikely. These may be reviewed periodically, but it is unlikely that these claimants would be invited for a face-to-face consultation. By reviewing PIP awards we are recognising that people's needs may change gradually over time, and that these changes can sometimes happen so gradually that the individual may not notice.

Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies procured from companies based in Scotland of a value in excess of £25,000 since May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such procurement contract.

Mark Hoban: To obtain all the information to answer this question would incur disproportionate cost.
	Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
	In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have entered employment as a result of the application of the benefit cap; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The benefit cap was introduced in four London boroughs (Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey) from 15 April 2013 and statistics on numbers impacted are not yet available. However, the April 2013 publication "Ad hoc statistics on Jobcentre Plus Activity regarding claimants who have been identified as potentially impacted by the benefit cap" reported that 8,000 claimants in households that may be subject to the cap have moved into work.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls to the helpline for existing benefit recipients have been declined on security grounds since the introduction of new security checks.

Mark Hoban: Since the launch of the telephony and identification verification (T-IDV) process in November 2011 and up to 10 May 2013, a total of 1,068,079 calls to the DWP Enquire Service have resulted in failed security questions, preventing access to benefit related information.
	This is the final stage of the T-IDV process and, at this point, the customer will have already failed to satisfactorily answer automated security questions and agent-led security questions (both based on memorable information previously entered by the customer), representing a progressively increasing proportion of total inquiry calls.
	Comparable data are not available for the other enquiry service lines, as T-IDV is not used on other inquiry lines. However, T-IDV volumes have increased, progressively, in line with Enquire rollout, accounting for an increasing proportion of total primary benefit inquiries.
	The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) takes identify verification very seriously and, when appropriate, we need to ensure that the person that we are speaking to is who they claim to be. This helps us to ensure that departmental records are protected, a claimant's personal details are as secure as possible and that identify fraud is prevented.

Social Security Benefits

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to review the online application process for claiming (a) attendance allowance, (b) disability living allowance and (c) the overseas state pension.

Mark Hoban: Online applications for attendance allowance, disability living allowance and overseas state pension are currently made using the Tactical e-Service platform. As a consequence of customer feedback and analysis, the current Tactical e-Service (TeS), introduced in 2006, is no longer compatible with many browsers and operating systems and is deemed to be too unreliable and problematic to offer reasonable customer service. As the IT platform is outdated, it is not feasible to upgrade the existing service. Digital Services Division (DSD) are therefore proceeding with decommissioning TeS and developing a business case to demonstrate the financial viability of new replacement services. The new services would be based on the Government Digital Service approved approach which is being trialled using carers allowance and personal independence payment. The business case proposal will be reviewed in June. If viable, we would seek to develop the new services as soon as is practical after those dates.

Telephone Services

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) target set and (b) rate of achievement is for response to call back telephone calls for his Department's call centres.

Mark Hoban: For working age claimants, the target is for 95% of call backs to be completed within three hours following handover from the initial point of contact.
	Over the course of the 2012-13 reporting year, 91.8% of callbacks were cleared within the prescribed time frame. During the month of April 2013, the achievement was 95.8%.
	Child Maintenance Group has an internal target to complete all call backs within 24 hours. Over the course of the 2012-13 reporting year, 99.25% of calls were completed within that time scale.

Unemployment Benefits: Croydon

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women were claiming out-of-work benefits in Croydon North constituency in the most recent month for which figures are available; and what the figures are for the same month in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on the number of people in Croydon North constituency who were receiving out-of-work benefits in November 2010, November 2011 and November 2012 by gender is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of out-of-work benefit claimants in Croydon North parliamentary constituency by statistical group and gender: November 2010, November 2011 and November 2012 
			 Statistical group/gender November 2010 November 2011 November 2012 
			 Jobseeker's allowance    
			 Total 4,400 5,240 4,820 
			 Female 1,540 1,950 1,940 
			 Male 2,860 3,290 2,870 
			     
			 Incapacity benefits    
			 Total 5,550 5,660 5,830 
			 Female 2,400 2,490 2,620 
		
	
	
		
			 Male 3,150 3,160 3,210 
			     
			 Lone parents    
			 Total 2,760 2,480 2,090 
			 Female 2,620 2,380 2,020 
			 Male 140 100 70 
			     
			 Carers    
			 Total 240 260 290 
			 Female 130 140 160 
			 Male 100 110 120 
			     
			 Other income related benefits    
			 Total 480 400 350 
			 Female 240 210 190 
			 Male 240 190 160 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Statistical group is a hierarchical variable. A person who fits into more than one category will only appear in the top-most one for which they are eligible. 3. Out of work benefits which are included in this analysis are: Jobseeker's allowance Employment and support allowance Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance Income support. 4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment and support allowance (ESA) for new claims from October 2008. 5. November 2012 is the latest data available. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of universal credit.

Mark Hoban: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply I provided him with on 13 May 2013, Official Report, column 69W, on how many people have claimed universal credit in the pathfinder to date. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish Official Statistics on pathfinder areas in autumn 2013 and on nationally implemented universal credit from autumn 2014.
	We expect around 7,000 claims to be processed during the pathfinder.

Universal Credit

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what evaluation he has set in place to assess the effect on (a) lifting people out of poverty and (b) claimants of disablement benefits, of the introduction of the universal credit social benefit scheme; and over what time periods he plans to report to Parliament its impact on the poorest people.

Mark Hoban: In December 2012, DWP published a document setting out the broad approach to universal credit evaluation:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180879/universal-credit-evaluation-framework.pdf
	Plans for the evaluation are wide-ranging, employing a number of different approaches over the lifetime of the policy. These range from ongoing monitoring, “live running reviews” of implementation and delivery, through to longer term analysis of the outcomes and impacts for different groups of claimants.
	Where possible, DWP will undertake specific sub-group analysis looking at the experiences of different groups of claimants such as disabled people and low income households. Drawing on existing data sources such as HBAI (households below average income) and primary evidence emerging from the evaluation, we will analyse changes in labour market participation; improvements to in-work progression; increased self-sufficiency and reductions in poverty.
	We have recently run a consultation of statistics on universal credit and other welfare reform changes. We will publish our proposed publication strategy for universal credit in the next couple of months.

Universal Credit: Gloucestershire

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when benefit claimants in Gloucestershire will be transferred to universal credit.

Mark Hoban: Decisions on the timing of the roll-out of universal credit in Gloucestershire have not yet been finalised.

Vacancies: Internet

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vacancies have been posted on Universal Jobmatch to date; and how many job outcomes have been achieved through that system.

Mark Hoban: The number of new job vacancies posted on Universal Jobmatch between its inception on 19 November 2012 and 30 April 2013 is 1,668,745. Data regarding the number of job outcomes that have been achieved through the Universal Jobmatch service are not collected, and so it is not possible to provide this.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the reasons why people who apply for employment and support allowance do not subsequently attend a work capability assessment; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: When a claimant fails to attend a work capability assessment, they are asked to provide their reasons for non-attendance. The reasons for non-attendance are individual to that person and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decision maker will make a decision (in accordance with current social security legislation) to determine if the reason for non-attendance is sufficient to allow good cause and refer for another assessment to be arranged.
	The Department does not compile or publish statistics on the reasons why people do not attend their assessment.

Work Programme

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support he has put in place for those people who will complete two years on the Work programme without having achieved a job sustainment.

Mark Hoban: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave previously to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) on 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 206W (PQ 147545).

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on the Work Programme in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 to date.

Mark Hoban: The total paid to Work Programme Providers in the UK is £377.9 million from the start of the programme through to 30 July 2012, ie the period covered by the last Statistical Release. Further information on spend up to the end of March 2013 is scheduled to be available to coincide with the next planned Statistical Release on 27 June 2013.

Work Programme

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will strengthen the minimum service standards for the Work programme to better improve the experience of homeless people who use the service;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to improve job outcomes for homeless people in the Work programme.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will strengthen the minimum service standards for the Work programme to better improve the experience of homeless people who use the service;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to improve job outcomes for homeless people in the Work programme.

Mark Hoban: Providers set out their minimum service standards as part of their bids for Work programme contracts. These standards have been published and providers must make them clear to all participants when they join the Work programme. The Department for Work and Pensions carries out regular compliance checks to ensure these standards are being met.
	If a participant is concerned that their provider is not meeting their minimum service standards, then they are able to raise the issue with their provider. If the participant is not satisfied with their provider’s response, they are then able to escalate the complaint to the Independent Case Examiner.
	I have also set up the Work Programme: Building Best Practice group, which is independently chaired by Andrew Sells. This group will set up a framework to promote the sharing of best practice, with a particular focus on the harder to help such as claimants who are homeless. It will also explore best practice for minimum service levels, to ensure that they are transparent and measurable.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change: Curriculum

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an assessment of the proposal by the Department for Education to remove climate change from the national curriculum guidelines for key stages one to three.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), has made such an assessment and has written to the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), expressing his support for climate change remaining an explicit feature of the Geography curriculum, as well as in the Science curriculum.

Fracking

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the total UK onshore shale gas resource; and when he plans to publish the recent report on shale gas resources produced by the British Geological Survey.

Michael Fallon: We are working with the British Geological Survey on a study to assess the volume of shale gas in place (ie the resource as distinct from the proportion that might be economic to produce) in the Bowland Shale of northern England. I expect that the report will be published this summer. With regard to the total UK shale resource, further studies looking at other UK shale deposits will be required.

Fuel Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, columns 1058-60W, on fuel poverty, what the time lag was for reporting of data in each year; and when he expects figures for (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to be available.

Gregory Barker: The first separate statistical report on fuel poverty in England (and overall for the UK) was published in 2009, for 2007 data. Prior to that, fuel poverty statistics were covered in the annual report on progress on the fuel poverty strategy. Fuel poverty statistics gained National Statistics accreditation in 2011. The dates of publication and period covered for the statistics reports are given in the table, which show that we have improved the timeliness in reporting these statistics, and will continue to seek further improvements in due course.
	
		
			 Fuel poverty report Publication date Data period 
			 Annual Report on Fuel Poverty Statistics 2009 October 2009 2006-07 
			 Annual Report on Fuel Poverty Statistics 2010 October 2010 2007-08 
			 Annual Report on Fuel Poverty Statistics 2011 July 2011 2008-09 
			 Annual Report on Fuel Poverty Statistics 2012 May 2012 2009-10 
			 Annual Report on Fuel Poverty Statistics 2013 May 2013 2010-11 
		
	
	Future publication dates of fuel poverty data for England are yet to be announced, but are currently anticipated to be around:
	May 2014, covering the data period 2011-12;
	May 2015, covering the data period 2012-13.
	Fuel poverty in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.

Green Deal Scheme

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that small construction companies are able to access work contracts to deliver the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will play a key role in delivering the Green Deal. A number of business models are starting to emerge in the market that allows them to use their local knowledge to provide a vital link between potential customers and the Green Deal.
	We would expect most SME participation in the Green Deal to be in the role of advisers and installers, but the policy and legislative framework also enables SMEs to become Green Deal providers.

Plutonium

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 31 of page 14 of his Department's consultation on the Management of the UK's Plutonium Stock, published on 28 May 2012, if he will set out the criteria he intends to use when judging whether to publish applications in redacted form made under the justification process on the re-use of plutonium.

Michael Fallon: While it is our intention that applications will be published, each will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis against the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 in order to determine whether information included in the application should be withheld.

Radioactive Waste

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what communications his Department has received from the Office for Nuclear Regulation on (a) transport safety and (b) security issues created by geographically dispersed (i) interim stores and (ii) final disposal repositories for radioactive waste outside Cumbria since May 2010.

Michael Fallon: The Department has received no specific communication from the Office for Nuclear Regulation on transport safety and security issues created by geographically dispersed interim stores and final disposal repositories for radioactive waste outside Cumbria since May 2010. However, my officials regularly liaise on these topics in the round, as well as receiving periodic reports from the ONR covering the range of its regulatory responsibilities.

Renewable Energy

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effects of electricity market reform on community and co-operative energy projects.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 15 May 2013
	The Government are committed to driving and supporting an ambitious level of investment by independent generators, including community energy and co-operatives. Independent developers have played an important role in delivering new capacity, and we expect them to continue to make a material contribution to delivering investment and meeting our objectives of keeping energy prices affordable and supplies secure as we decarbonise. Accordingly, the Government are working to ensure that the electricity market reform proposals support independent generation.
	The contracts for difference proposed in the Energy Bill will remove wholesale price risk and consequently improve conditions in the market for long-term power purchase agreements needed by many independent low carbon developers to secure project finance.
	Further, we are taking powers in the Energy Bill to give Government the flexibility to support the availability of viable power purchase agreements for independent generators, should the market not develop as expected.

Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies procured from companies based in Scotland of a value in excess of £25,000 since May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such procurement contract.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not record this information centrally and it would be available only at disproportionate cost. The Department would be able to provide further contract information by narrowing the scope, if specific procurement projects were identified.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Aerospace Technology Institute

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what advice his Department has issued to the Aerospace Growth Partnership's working group examining the location of the proposed Aerospace Technology Institute;
	(2)  when he expects to announce the location of the proposed Aerospace Technology Institute;
	(3)  what recent representations he has received on the location of the proposed Aerospace Technology Institute.

Michael Fallon: As set out in the Aerospace Industrial Strategy, the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) will consist of a small core team—probably 30 to 50 staff—primarily seconded from industry and academia. The research and technology programmes funded under the ATI programme will be carried out as collaborative projects including a wide range of industrial and academic partners at a range of locations across the UK. Filton is an area with strong aerospace capabilities and I would anticipate that a number of companies with a presence in the area will be involved in these programmes.
	The ATI is jointly funded by business and Government and we are working closely together on a range of implementation issues including location. We have received a number of representations on the possible location of the ATI. We are examining these alongside the other factors that will help ensure that the ATI achieves maximum impact. Following the publication of the Aerospace Industrial Strategy in March, we are looking to establish the ATI as quickly as possible. I intend to make an announcement on the next steps before the summer recess.

Bankruptcy

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many bankruptcy cases were recorded as having few or no assets in each year since 2008.

Jo Swinson: It is not possible to provide an answer to the question raised as the Insolvency Service does not collate information or report on the number of bankruptcy cases having few or no assets, and the costs of obtaining that information would be disproportionate.

Bankruptcy

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average level of debt was for bankruptcy cases (a) recorded as having few or no assets, (b) excluding those with few or no assets and (c) overall in each year since 2008.

Jo Swinson: It is not possible to provide an answer to points (a) and (b) in the question raised as the Insolvency Service does not collate information or report on the average debt of cases taking into account levels of assets, and the costs of obtaining that information would be disproportionate.
	In answer to point (c), the overall average level of unsecured debt since 2008 is as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			 As at April to March each year Median average amount of debt Mean average amount of debt 
			 2008-09 37,000 153,084 
			 2009-10 42,300 130,248 
			 2010-11 34,907 162,087 
			 2011-12 36,510 164,346 
			 2012-13 37,758 258,146

Bankruptcy

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Insolvency Service annual reports 2009-10 and 2010-11, what the threshold is for a bankruptcy case to be recorded as having few or little assets.

Jo Swinson: The Insolvency Service annual reports for 2009-10 and 2010-11 referred to cases having few or little assets. Those are cases where there were insufficient assets to cover the official receiver's case administration fee after the petition deposit had been received.
	This would be as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			  In cases where debtors present their own petition In cases where creditors present the petition 
			 2009-10 1,355 1,285 
			 2010-11 1,265 1,115

EU External Trade: USA

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on an EU-US trade agreement; what timetable is envisaged; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The UK strongly supports the forthcoming launch of negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It is important that we push for as ambitious an agreement as possible to deliver the fullest benefits to the "UK and the EU". We are hoping to agree the negotiating mandate within the EU in June and launch negotiations soon after that. We hope to make rapid progress towards conclusion.

Exports

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department's (a) Export Refinancing Scheme and (b) Direct Lending Facility will be in operation.

Michael Fallon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna) on 24 April 2013, Official Report, column 995W. Both the Export Refinancing Scheme and Direct Lending Facility are still being developed.

Foreign Investment in UK

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much foreign direct investment the UK has attracted in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Official statistics on inward FDI stocks and flows over the last 10 years (2002-11) are published by the Office for National Statistics in its ‘Foreign Direct Investment Involving UK Companies, 2011 (MA4)’ publication at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/fdi/foreign-direct-investment/2011-ma4/index.html

ICT

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support the creation of a digital single market.

Michael Fallon: The Government are working closely with business, consumer groups and the EU institutions to ensure that the right policies are in place to create a digital single market. My noble Friend Lord Young of Grantham chairs an e-commerce task force which brings together key actors from within the digital economy to identify areas where further action is needed to create a digital single market. My noble Friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint will host a conference on the digital single market in Brussels this month which will be attended by Commissioners, MEPs and Ministers from across the EU. In addition, we continue to work with likeminded allies to ensure that proposals under negotiation will support the development of the digital single market and business and consumer's ability to buy and sell goods and services online across the EU.

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Jo Swinson: Information around the use of inflation measures is published alongside the Budget each year in Annex A of the Policy Costings document. For Budget 13, this is available online via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/188367/budget2013_policy_costings.pdf.pdf
	From a financial accounts perspective, uses of inflation measures in BIS's accounts are mentioned in the published annual report and accounts. The BIS Annual Report and Accounts for 2011-12 is published on the data.gov.uk website:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/bis-annual-report-and-accounts
	The accounting areas that mention use of inflation measures are student loans (on pages 151, 166 to 170 and 206) and launch investments (on pages 172 and 173).

Post Offices: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has given consideration to the future of Holloway Crown post office.

Jo Swinson: The Government do not have any role in franchising or mergers of Crown post office branches and the development and implementation, following local public consultation, of such proposals is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd.
	The Government are fully committed to modernising the post office network and to safeguarding its future. This is why we are investing £1.34 billion over the next two years to modernise the network, helping the Post Office to compete in a changing retail market with no programme of closures.
	Ensuring that the heavy losses of the Crown post office segment of the network are eliminated to reach break-even by 2015 is a key element of the strategy to make the network sustainable.

Zoos

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the importance of zoos and aquariums to the UK economy;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to stimulate economic growth in the zoo and aquarium sector.

Michael Fallon: A report by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BAIZA)(1), to be published shortly, indicates that when indirect and induced effects are added to the direct outputs of zoos, as measured through the purchase of goods and services, the sector contributes some £658 million in total activity, and that the sector employs some 11,000 FTEs. Ministers and officials from BIS have had regular contact with BAIZA over the lifetime of this Parliament at which BIAZA's proposals for growth within the sector have been discussed.
	(1 )The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums Regent's Park London NW1 4RY. Direct line: 020 7449 6599. Website: www.biaza.org.uk

Zoos

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote the economic potential of zoos, aquariums and allied wildlife sites to local enterprise partnerships.

Michael Fallon: The Government are committed to devolving power to local communities, and it is not for the Government to determine local enterprise partnerships’ (LEPs) priorities and actions. As independent bodies, LEPs develop and agree their own local priorities as they are best placed to understand how to drive jobs and growth.

HEALTH

Variant CJD

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when screening for vCJD will be available to families who have been affected by it;
	(2)  when he proposes that a vCJD blood screening test will be implemented to screen all UK blood donors.

Anna Soubry: At present, there are no validated blood screening tests for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The Department, together with the United Kingdom blood services, continues to monitor scientific research and development in this area.

Variant CJD

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many silent carriers of vCJD there are in the UK; and how many of those could be potential blood donors;
	(2)  what his latest estimate is of the number of people in the UK who may be unknowing carriers of vCJD.

Anna Soubry: A recent study of stored tissue samples, published in the Health Protection Report in August 2012, found abnormal prion protein in 16 appendices out of 32,441 samples. This suggests a prevalence of about one in 2,000, which remains statistically consistent with results from an earlier appendix survey.
	This estimate measures the prevalence of abnormal prion protein in appendix tissues within the population covered. We cannot know for certain whether this is a good indicator of risk in relation to potential blood-borne routes of infection, such that blood taken from donors with abnormal prion protein in appendix tissue would transmit prion infection. However, risk assessments, prepared for the independent scientific Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP), are based on the presumption that this could occur. In February 2013, ACDP agreed and published an updated variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and blood components risk assessment, which takes into account the recent prevalence study data. A copy of this document has been placed in the Library, and is publicly available on the Department's website.
	The prevalence of infective blood donors remains unknown. Not all individuals in the study would be of an age eligible to donate blood, nor is it clear whether presence of abnormal prion protein in tissues such as the appendix indicates that the blood of such a donor would transmit vCJD. Precautionary measures are assessed in the context of the fundamental uncertainties about prevalence.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that clinical commissioning groups do not have conflicting interests when purchasing services on behalf of patients.

Anna Soubry: The National Health Service Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, sets out the clear requirements on clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in relation to managing conflicts of interest. For example, CCGs should maintain registers of interests that are published or otherwise accessible to the public. They should also make arrangements for managing conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest, to ensure they do not affect or appear to affect the integrity of their decision-making process.
	CCGs must also comply with the requirements for managing the conflict of interests set out in NHS (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) Regulations 2013.
	NHS England is responsible for supporting CCGs to manage conflicts of interest, and has produced guidance setting out the statutory requirements and general safeguards to protect the integrity of the CCGs decision-making process. The guidance is available at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ccg-conflict-int-guide.pdf

Croydon University Hospital

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the proposed downgrade of Croydon university hospital, including the closure of accident and emergency, maternity and children's units; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Croydon university hospital is part of the current review of health care services taking place under the Better Services, Better Value reconfiguration proposals.
	Proposals for reconfiguration of health services are locally led, in this case by the local clinical commissioning groups of South West London and Surrey Downs.
	No decisions have been made and local clinicians continue working together to develop ways of reshaping local health services for the benefit of patients. Once final proposals are agreed, a full three-month public consultation will be held.

Drugs: Misuse

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of hospital admissions arising from legal highs in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The information that is collected centrally about hospital admissions for drug poisoning does not separately identify newer substances such as legal highs. In “Statistics on Drug Misuse England, 2012” published on 29 November, the Health and Social Care Information Centre highlighted a consultation on whether additional codes should be included in collecting statistics on hospital admissions for drug poisoning.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of spending on out-of-hours care between 2004 and 2010, by primary care trust.

Jeremy Hunt: Information on spending on out-of- hours care between 2004 and 2010 by primary care trust has been placed in the Library.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many items of correspondence his Department received from primary care trusts expressing concern about arrangements for out-of-hours care following the introduction of the revised GP contract between 2004 and 2010;
	(2)  how many individual items of correspondence his Department received expressing concern about out-of- hours care between 2004 and 2010.

Anna Soubry: Records are only available from August 2005. A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified 601 items of correspondence received up to 31 December 2010 about out-of-hours care. This is a minimum figure and represents correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only. It is not possible to provide more specific information about this correspondence without incurring disproportionate cost.
	There were no items of correspondence from primary care trusts expressing concerns about arrangements for out-of-hours care following the introduction of the revised contract between 2004 and 2010.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP practices have opted out of providing out-of-hours care under the provisions of the revised GP contract since April 2004.

Anna Soubry: Information on how many general practitioner (GP) practices have opted out of providing out-of-hours care under the provisions of the revised GP contract since April 2004 is not available.

Health Services

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's administrative budget in 2013-14 is for (a) Monitor, (b) Healthwatch England, (c) Healthwatch Staffordshire, (d) Independent Complaints Advocacy Service, (e) health and wellbeing boards, (f) quality surveillance groups, (g) Care Quality Commission, (h) NHS England and (i) clinical commissioning groups.

Anna Soubry: The Department has set initial administration budgets in 2013-14 for the following organisations:
	
		
			 Organisation 2013-14 Administration budget (£ million) 
			 Monitor 48 
			 Care Quality Commission (CQC)(1) 46 
			 NHS England (NHSE)(2) 663 
			 Clinical Commissioning Groups(2) (3)l,239 
			 (1) The initial administration budget shown for CQC includes £3 million which is ringfenced for Healthwatch England. CQC also receives programme funding from the Department, the majority of its funding is regulatory fee income. (2) The administration budgets for NHS England are published in the NHS Mandate: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-mandate (3) Issued to NHSE. 
		
	
	The Department does not directly set the budgets for a number of the organisations quoted in the question as follows:
	
		
			 Organisation 2013-14 Budgets 
			 Healthwatch England(1) Included within CQC budgets 
			 Healthwatch Staffordshire(2) (2)— 
			 Independent Complaints Advocacy Service Included within NHSE budgets as identified in the Mandate 
			 Health and Wellbeing Boards Health and Wellbeing Boards are statutory committees of local authorities. 
			 (1) The initial administration budget shown for CQC includes £3 million which is ringfenced for Healthwatch England. CQC also receives programme funding from the Department, the majority of its funding is regulatory fee income. (2) Programme funding for all local Healthwatch organisations is provided to local authorities via the Department for Communities and Local Government formula-based grant and this is not ring-fenced. Final decisions on the funding of individual local Healthwatch organisations are for local authorities to make, based on their local needs and circumstances.

Health Services: Berkshire

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has recently received representations from NHS Berkshire about (a) the future of Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot and (b) the strategic priorities for health care services in East Berkshire. [R]

Anna Soubry: The Department has not received any representations from NHS Berkshire about the future of Heatherwood hospital, Ascot and the strategic priorities for health care services in East Berkshire.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value was of invoiced fees owed to the NHS by foreign patients not entitled to free care which were written off in each of the last 10 years.

Anna Soubry: The following table shows, for the years that are available, the total losses, bad debts and claims abandoned in relation to overseas visitors not entitled to free national health service hospital treatment that NHS trusts in England have recorded in their accounts. The Chairman of Monitor has provided similar data for NHS foundation trusts, which are also in the table.
	The data may relate to treatment provided to overseas visitors in earlier financial years. Furthermore, since overseas visitors can include United Kingdom nationals visiting the UK, the data will not relate exclusively to foreign patients. The Department does not hold information centrally about the nationality of patients treated by the NHS.
	
		
			 Overseas visitors: Losses, bad debts and claims abandoned 
			 £ 
			  NHS trusts NHS foundation trusts Total 
			 2011-12 8,880,564 2,676,000 11,556,564 
			 2010-11 6,773,733 7,182,000 13,955,733 
			 2009-10 6,967,780 2,120,000 9,087,780 
			 2008-09 5,204,856 3,269,000 8,473,856 
			 2007-08 6,468,751 2,621,000 9,089,751 
			 2006-07 5,046,763 — 5,046,763 
			 2005-06 3,883,017 — 3,882,017 
			 2004-05 2,369,650 — 2,369,650 
			 2003-04 3,334,173 — 3,334,173 
			 2002-03 2,109,000 — 2,109,000 
			 Source: NHS trust audited summarisation schedules and NHS foundation trust consolidated accounts (data are not available from NHS foundation trusts prior to 2007-08).

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of secondary care provided to foreign nationals who were not entitled to free treatment.

Anna Soubry: The Department is not able to make a reliable estimate of the cost to the national health service of providing secondary care to foreign nationals who were not entitled to free treatment because the NHS does not currently have robust enough systems in place to identify every foreign national who should pay for hospital treatment.
	The Department has commissioned a piece of work to better understand the extent of the use of the NHS by migrants and visitors.
	The Department has recently concluded a major review of the rules and procedures on charging visitors and migrants for NHS care, and over the summer we will consult on proposals to make the system fairer and ensure that people who should pay for NHS services do in fact do so. This will include improving how the NHS can identify, charge and recover charges where they should apply.

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Daniel Poulter: The Department uses a number of different measures of inflation for a number of different purposes, including the following:
	(a) The retail price index (RPI) measure of inflation is used to inform:
	level of future payments made by the NHS Litigation Authority;
	Health service cost index (uses both RPI and gross domestic product (GDP) deflators);
	NHS Pay Review Bodies (consider both RPI and the consumer price index (CPI)); and
	payments to externally financed premises such as private finance initiative (PFI) contracts.
	(b) The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation is used to:
	Calculate support payments paid to individuals infected with Hepatitis C or HIV through NHS blood transfusions.
	(c) GDP deflators are used to inform the setting of:
	sight test fees and optical vouchers (also uses RPI);
	tariff uplift;
	dental charges;
	prescription charges; and
	overseas health payments and income (both historical trends of inflation and GDP deflators are used).
	It is considered to be of disproportionate cost to compile a comprehensive list.

Mental Hospitals

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to develop existing high secure hospital estates to meet changes in overall capacity requirements over the next five years;
	(2)  whether any review of the capacity of high secure hospitals was undertaken prior to the commissioning of redevelopment plans for Broadmoor hospital;
	(3)  what the maximum patient capacity of Ashworth hospital was on the date the hospital was established.

Norman Lamb: NHS England informs me that commissioners undertook a capacity review that was completed in November 2009 for the period 2011-12 to 2015-16.
	Ashworth hospital was originally built with 410 bedrooms. Good practice is to have less than 100% occupancy so that admission and discharge can be arranged to meet clinical need and the requirements of the criminal justice system.
	The main improvement to the high secure estate over the next five years is the redevelopment of Broadmoor hospital. Other improvement schemes are local to the hospitals.

Mesothelioma

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has held with insurance firms on the proposal to place their financial contribution to mesothelioma research on to a statutory basis.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has had no such discussions.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts have not achieved foundation trust status; and when he expects all NHS trusts to gain foundation trust status.

Anna Soubry: The NHS Trust Development Authority (NTDA) has responsibility for providing support to trusts to help them achieve foundation trust status. The Department has allowed the NTDA to agree trajectories for NHS trusts to reach foundation trust status by 2014 or, on a case-by-case basis, beyond 2014. In doing so, we will ensure that the primary focus of the NTDA and of NHS trusts themselves is on improving the quality and sustainability of services for patients. The list of existing NHS trusts is outlined as follows:
	Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
	Barking Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust
	Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust
	Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
	Bart’s Health NHS Trust
	Bedford Hospital NHS Trust
	Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust
	Bradford District Care NHS Trust
	Bridgewater Community Healthcare Trust
	Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Buckinghamshire Community Healthcare NHS Trust
	Cambridge Community Services NHS Trust
	Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
	Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust
	Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
	Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
	Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust
	Devon Partnership NHS Trust
	Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
	Ealing Hospital NHS Trust
	East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
	East Cheshire NHS Trust
	East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
	East Midlands Ambulance Services NHS Trust
	East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
	East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
	Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
	George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
	Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust
	Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
	Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust
	Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
	Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
	Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust
	Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust
	Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust
	Kent Community Health NHS Trust
	Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
	Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
	Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
	Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust
	Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust
	Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust
	London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
	Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust
	Mersey Care NHS Trust
	Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust
	Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	NHS Direct
	Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust
	North Bristol NHS Trust
	North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust
	North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
	North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust
	North West Ambulance Services NHS Trust
	North West London Hospitals NHS Trust
	Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
	Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust
	Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
	Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
	Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
	Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
	Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
	Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
	Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust
	Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust
	Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust
	Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
	Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust
	Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust
	Solent NHS Trust
	South London Healthcare NHS Trust
	South West London and St George's NHS Trust
	Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
	St George's Healthcare NHS Trust
	St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust
	Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust
	Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
	Sussex Community Health NHS Trust
	The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
	The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
	Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care Trust
	United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust
	University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
	University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
	Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust
	West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	West London Mental Health NHS Trust
	West Middlesex University NHS Trust
	Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust
	Weston Area Health NHS Trust
	Wirral Community Health Services
	Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
	Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
	Wye Valley NHS Trust (Hereford Hospital)
	Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

NHS: Whistleblowing

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many individual items of correspondence his Department received expressing concern about the effects of Government targets on patient care between 2005 and 2010;
	(2)  how many investigations into poor care or malpractice in the NHS were initiated as a result of whistleblowers highlighting these to his Department between 2005 and 2010;
	(3)  how many individual items of correspondence his Department received from whistleblowers reporting instances of malpractice or poor patient care between 2005 and 2010.

Daniel Poulter: It is not possible to trace individual items of correspondence received by the Department expressing concern about the effects of Government targets on patient care, or reporting instances of malpractice or poor patient care by whistleblowers between 2005 and 2010 without incurring disproportionate cost.
	A search of the Department's records has identified 192 items of correspondence received from whistleblowers between February 2009 (when central records began) and December 2010. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only.
	The Department does not hold information relating to investigations into poor care or malpractice in the national health service initiated as a result of information provided to it by one or more whistleblowers between 2005 and 2010 centrally.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual cost of (a) methadone prescriptions and (b) rehabilitative treatment for both prisoners and offenders on probation is.

Norman Lamb: We are informed by Public Health England that data are not collected centrally on spending by prisons on methadone prescriptions. Data are available on total funding allocations for clinical drug treatment, which includes the cost of methadone prescribing, to primary care trusts in prisons over the last five years to March 2013 and is shown in the table. It is not possible to extract methadone prescription costs from the data. The cost of rehabilitative drug treatment for prisoners is also included in these totals.
	
		
			 Total funding allocations made to primary care trusts for all clinical drug treatments in prisons in England between 2008-09 and 2012-13: male and female, all ages 
			  Total clinical drug funding allocation (£ million) 
			 2012-13 117.5 
			 2011-12 108.4 
			 2010-11 44.5 
			 2009-10 39.7 
			 2008-09 23.2 
			 Source: Public Health England. 
		
	
	From April 2011, the total allocation included funding for psychosocial interventions which had previously been funded by the National Offender Management Service. In 2012-13 the total included funding for the young persons' secure estate and for immigration removal centres.
	The cost of rehabilitative health care treatments provided to offenders on probation is not collected centrally. Since April 2013, NHS England has commissioned prison drug treatment services through 10 designated local area teams (LATs). LATs will be able to enter into local agreements with other partners, including criminal justice agencies, to establish pooled budgets and deliver services including rehabilitative health care for offenders in the community. These data will be available from NHS England in future.

Prisons: Mental Health Services

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual cost of prisoners' access to (a) psychiatric nurses, (b) psychiatrists, (c) clinical psychologists, (d) occupational therapists, (e) drug workers and (f) counsellors is.

Norman Lamb: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Skin Cancer

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) GPs and (b) GPs with special interests who diagnose, manage and excise low-risk basal cell carcinomas in the community (i) are fully accredited to do so and (ii) undergo continuous professional development in the diagnosis and management of skin lesions to maintain their accreditation.

Daniel Poulter: The Department supported the revision of guidance for general practitioners (GPs) with a special interest in dermatology, which set out a new role for skin surgery and community cancer care, in ‘Revised guidance and competences for the provision of services using GPs with special interests: Dermatology and skin surgery’ (NHS Primary Care Commissioning, 2011). This guidance for GPs and commissioners of services underpins more effective community care for those with suspected cancer.
	Furthermore, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the management of low-risk basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), published in 2011, describes the training, education, qualifications and accreditation (official recognition and approval) that three different groups of health care professionals need to manage low-risk BCCs in the community.
	The General Medical Council (GMC) is an independent statutory body that is directly accountable to Parliament. One of its purposes is to promote high standards of medical education and training. In December last year, the GMC introduced medical revalidation, which is the process by which licensed doctors are required to demonstrate on a regular basis that they are up to date and fit to practise. All doctors have to provide evidence of continuing professional development, covering the full scope of their practice, which is assessed through a formal annual appraisal process.

Social Services

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment of the potential effects on (a) insurers and (b) policy holders of the proposed cap on social care costs;
	(2)  what discussions his Department had with insurance providers before the Government's decision to set a cap on the cost of social care was taken;
	(3)  what discussions his Department had with patient groups and care organisations before its decision to set a cap on the cost of social care.

Norman Lamb: The Department ran an engagement in autumn 2011 on social care reform. This included the proposals for capped costs scheme, and the role for financial services in helping people pay for care. The engagement was run in partnership with representatives of local authorities, the care sector and the financial services industry including the Association of British Insurers.
	The engagement was supportive of a cap on social care costs on the basis this would protect people from very high care costs while allowing people to use products such as insurance, pensions and equity release to pay for their care. The feedback from the engagement was published in November 2011.
	A copy of the feedback is available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/136456/2900021-Ipsos-MORI-Caring-for-our-future-engagement-analysis-of-responses.pdf
	With regards to the market for financial services, the changes in limiting assessed care costs to £72,000 per person give providers more certainty about the maximum payout they might face.
	We will be consulting on the detail of implementing these reforms over the summer and are currently engaging with local authorities, the care and support and financial services sectors. Further analysis is available in an impact assessment of the capped costs scheme published on 10 May 2013.

Streptococcus

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set a target for the reduction of early-onset group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has set no target but is working together with the national health service, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, the National Institute for Health Research Heath Technology Assessment and the pharmaceutical industry to make improvements in the reduction of early-onset group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies.
	The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, are to appoint a clinical research fellow to carry out an audit across the United Kingdom. It would aim to provide feedback and advice to all participating trusts about how they can further improve their adherence to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists guidelines on the prevention of neonatal group B streptococcus disease.

Tuberculosis

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will create a national strategy for tuberculosis in the UK.

Anna Soubry: Public Health England (PHE) is leading a national oversight group for tuberculosis (TB), which brings together partners from the Department, NHS England, local government, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, British Thoracic Society, academia and TB Alert to develop a strategy to reverse the trend of increasing TB rates in the United Kingdom. The group held its first meeting on 10 April.
	The Department will continue to support PHE in giving national policy leadership.

Tuberculosis

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent of the incidence of tuberculosis in the UK.

Anna Soubry: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the United Kingdom over time is assessed through systematic analysis of notification data obtained from the Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance System, run by Public Health England. In 2011 in the UK, a total of 8,963 cases of TB were reported, a rate of 14.4 cases per 100,000 population. This information is contained in tuberculosis case reports and rates, UK, 2000-11 which has been placed in the Library. TB notifications and rates increased from 2000 until 2005, and have remained high but relatively stable since.
	A brief summary of key surveillance data for 2011 is given as follows:
	The main burden of TB was concentrated in large urban areas, with 39% of all cases reported from London.
	Over half of TB cases had pulmonary disease (52%).
	The majority of cases (74%) were born outside the UK, with the rate of TB among the non-UK-born population being 20 times the rate in the UK-born.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

All-party Groups

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings he and Ministers in his Department have had with all-party parliamentary groups in the last 12 months.

Brandon Lewis: Due to the sheer number of all-party parliamentary groups, Ministers are not practically able to attend every event which may involve the Department's responsibilities.
	However, a list of meetings which Ministers within the Department for Communities and Local Government attended over the last 12 months has been placed in the Library of the House.

Fires: Death

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the number of deaths per 100,000 due to fire in (a) the UK and (b) countries that have introduced compulsory fire sprinklers in domestic properties.

Brandon Lewis: The Department has not made such an assessment. Recording practices for fire incidents and casualties vary across countries as described in the report “Comparison of European Fire Statistics” and found in the following link:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121108165934/http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/2159418.pdf
	Fire safety and prevention activity, such as promoting increased ownership and regular testing of smoke alarms, has resulted in fire fatalities being halved over the last 20 years, with the latest figures showing a further fall:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-statistics-monitor-april-to-september-2012
	Research and a review in 2005 concluded that it would not be cost-effective to provide sprinklers in new homes, but that it would be reasonable to provide them in blocks of flats over 30 metres in height and certain types of care homes. The outcome of the research resulted in building regulations being amended to require sprinklers in tall blocks of flats, certain types of care homes and large warehouses.
	New regulation on housing needs to be balanced and proportionate. Making sprinklers compulsory in all new homes would add an estimated £2,000 to £3,000 to the regulatory cost of a new-build home, meaning fewer new homes, making home ownership less accessible especially for first-time buyers, and potentially pushing up rents in the private rented sector.

Local Government: Newspaper Press

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each local authority spent on newspapers delivered to households in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date.

Brandon Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.
	Notwithstanding, I would note that councils are required by the Local Government Act 1986 to “keep a separate account of their expenditure on publicity”. The Act states:
	“Any person interested may at any reasonable time and without payment inspect the account and make copies of it or any part of it.”
	Prior to the general election, surveys by the Taxpayers' Alliance of such accounts estimated councils were spending in the region of £450 million a year on publicity.
	A Local Government Association survey of local authority publications in England and Wales in August 2010 found that 92% of respondents published regular municipal periodicals.
	Such spending will have fallen since the revised “Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity” was issued in 2011, but it is clear that some councils are intentionally disregarding this guidance.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: My Department has not issued any explicit guidance on the actions which would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in my Department. However, under the Department's conduct and disciplinary procedures it is open to DCLG to take such actions as it considers appropriate in any individual case, which could include either suspension or removal of a bonus payment.
	In the event that the Department needed to claw back any bonus payment, the normal approach would be to deduct the relevant amount from a future salary payment (either as a single or a series of payments, depending on how much is to be recovered). Where claw-back occurs after an individual has left the Department, it would either be recovered via the new employer if the individual has gone to another civil service employer or as a debt if the individual has left the civil service.
	There are no recorded instances of a bonus being reclaimed from any DCLG official in any of the last five years.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Access to Countryside

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to the countryside.

Richard Benyon: The Natural Environment White Paper included an ambition that every child in England be:
	'given the opportunity to experience and learn about the natural environment.'
	We have acted to break down perceived health and safety barriers and enabled schools to use Pupil Premium funding for outdoor learning.
	The Natural Connections Demonstration Project targets students in deprived areas across the south west. We plan to launch a similar project in east London.
	Local green space, farm host visits and initiatives such as the Forest School movement are also particularly beneficial to disadvantaged children.

New Markets: British Producers

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on opening up new markets to British producers. [R]

Owen Paterson: DEFRA continues to work with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and industry to promote exports and address market access barriers. We have opened the pork markets in China and Australia, expanded the beef market to Hong Kong, and opened poultry, beef and lamb markets in Russia. We continue to work hard to open and maintain markets for UK goods; we also champion British food at the world's key trade events.

Red Tape

David Rutley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on reducing red tape in the farming industry.

David Heath: The Farming Task Force Implementation Group has assessed progress in reducing red tape. Its assessment, published on 27 February, recognises the positive action taken by Government to date but highlights that much of it is yet to be felt by farmers. We will work at pace to ensure farmers see reductions in unnecessary red tape by, improving the way inspections are carried out, developing simple, clear guidance, and reducing paperwork burdens.

Rural Economy

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what policies he is putting in place to encourage growth in the rural economy.

Richard Benyon: Stimulating economic growth is the top priority for Government. We want to see rural areas contributing to and benefitting from that growth. We are working to improve superfast broadband and mobile infrastructure in rural communities, piloting rural growth networks to test different ways of helping businesses stimulate economic growth in rural areas, while boosting key sectors such as tourism. We are also increasing export potential and unblocking barriers to growth by removing red tape.

Bovine Tuberculosis

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on testing for bovine tuberculosis in (a) the UK and (b) Bassetlaw constituency in each of the last 10 years.

David Heath: Financial data which allow the costs of bovine TB testing to be separately identified from other TB related spending for the last 10 years are not available.
	However, data are available (as follows) for 2011-12 and 2012-13 but not in the form requested as data are only available regionally (ie Midlands), not by individual county.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2011-12 2012-13 
			 England 44.12 45.53 
			 Of which:   
			 Midlands 14.23 14.05 
		
	
	TB testing is defined as all skin tests and gamma interferon tests.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the bagder cull programme in Ireland and of lessons to be learned in relation to the proposed badger cull in the UK.

David Heath: The Irish approach to badger control is to cull badgers where they have been identified as contributing to an outbreak of TB, which is determined through an epidemiological investigation. There are a number of differences between the situation here and in the Republic of Ireland which mean that we are not planning to replicate its approach. These include differences in TB incidence, badger population density and ecology (population density is lower and badgers appear to move over larger distances in the Republic of Ireland).
	We believe controlled shooting is one of the most effective methods of carrying out badger culling but the pilots this summer will test our assumptions about the effectiveness, humaneness and safety of this method. Once the independent panel of experts overseeing and evaluating the pilots report back to Government, Ministers can then decide whether the policy should be rolled out more widely.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to eradicate tuberculosis from cattle.

David Heath: The Government are committed to a comprehensive and balanced approach to tackling bovine TB using all available tools. Numerous cattle controls are already in place, including:
	Routine surveillance testing of cattle herds, frequency of testing based on risk;
	Pre-movement testing of cattle from higher risk herds;
	Movement restrictions on animals from herds that have tested positive or inconclusive for bovine TB;
	The slaughter of all cattle that have tested positive for bovine TB;
	All cattle carcases inspected at slaughterhouses for evidence of TB;
	Advice and support for farmers that have had cases of bovine TB in their herds about bio-security and reducing the risk of bovine TB; and
	Significant investment in research, with a particular focus on the development of vaccines.
	In January 2013 the Government introduced further changes to the TB surveillance testing regime and cattle movement controls. Measures for controlling bovine TB in cattle will continue to form the backbone of our approach to tackling bovine TB and we will continue to look for ways to enhance them.
	However, cattle measures alone are not enough to prevent the spread of disease in the worst affected areas. In order to stop it spreading further we need to address the issue of infected badgers passing the disease to cattle. Two badger culling pilots will go ahead this summer to test the effectiveness, humaneness and safety of controlled shooting and inform a decision on a wider roll-out of the policy.
	The Government intend to publish a broad strategy pulling all of these strands together.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what plans he has to start bovine TB cattle vaccination trials;
	(2)  whether he has submitted a request to the European Commission to start bovine TB cattle vaccination trials; and what the timetable is for any such programme;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to ensure that any bovine TB cattle vaccination trials to be undertaken in England do not adversely affect the ability to export beef and dairy products.

David Heath: EU Commissioner Tonio Borg wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), on 14 January 2013 setting out the substantial scientific evidence that will be needed before any decision can be taken on lifting the current EU ban on cattle vaccination. For that reason, his view is that it would be reasonable to expect the full process to take 10 years.
	However, we are looking for ways to accelerate the work we were already doing on planning the experimental research and large-scale trialling of the vaccine that the Commissioner regards as the essential next step. We hope to have successfully completed all the experimental work, including studies on safety of meat and milk, during 2014 so that we can make an application to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for an animal test certificate to begin the necessary field trials.

Bovine Tuberculosis: North West

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in the North West of England is attributable to cattle movements from the South West or other areas of high bovine tuberculosis risk.

David Heath: Bovine TB is rare in Cumbria and Lancashire. The majority of breakdowns identified in those counties in 2012 and previous years were caused by introductions of undetected infected cattle from areas of high TB incidence, including the West of England, Wales and Ireland.
	The origin of a recent cluster of bovine TB breakdowns detected in North Lancashire (River Lune valley) at the end of last year and the beginning of 2013 has not yet been established. Targeted TB testing and epidemiological investigations by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) of herds in the area are under way.

Gangmasters

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 4 July 2012, Official Report, column 682W, on gangmasters, what progress he has made in (a)  bringing forward proposals for consultation on the introduction of fines and penalties for low-level technical and minor offences, (b) issuing sentencing guidelines for gangmaster-related offences and (c) introducing civil penalties for gangmaster-related offences.

David Heath: DEFRA launched an eight-week public consultation on proposals arising from the Red Tape Challenge review of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) on Friday 26 April. It includes proposals to introduce civil sanctions as an alternative to prosecution for the offences in the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act), and seeks views on how these could be introduced. Any measures introduced following the consultation will be consistent with the Government's policy on the use of civil sanctions, as set out in the written ministerial statement laid before Parliament by the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), on 8 November 2012, Official Report, column 43WS.
	DEFRA officials have looked into the practicalities of drafting sentencing guidelines in respect of the offences in the 2004 Act. Initial findings indicate that the relatively low level of prosecutions arising from these offences means it is unlikely that the Sentencing Council would view this area of sentencing as a priority.

Temporary Employment

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many agency staff are currently working within (a) his Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Richard Benyon: As at 31 March 2013, core DEFRA employed 40 agency staff, the DEFRA Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies employ 764 agency staff.

EDUCATION

Childminding

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether he plans to offer financial incentives to encourage the formation of childminder agencies;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received from child care experts in support of the creation of childminder agencies;
	(3)  what (a) organisations and (b) individuals his Department has approached regarding the establishment of pilot schemes for childminder agencies.

Elizabeth Truss: At present we do not have any plans to offer financial incentives to encourage the formation of childminder agencies.
	We have received support from a number of organisations and individuals for the introduction of 'childminder agencies', including the members of our task and finish group, and Her Majesty's chief inspector.
	In relation to pilot schemes for childminder agencies, we have actively encouraged all those with a potential interest in working with us on trials of agencies to contact us directly.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what (a) organisations and (b) individuals his Department has approached regarding the establishment of pilot schemes for the relaxation of staff to child ratios in child care settings.

Elizabeth Truss: In 'More great childcare', published on 29 January, the Government announced their intention to amend the staff:child ratios as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework from September 2013. The Government consulted on the qualifications required to enable settings to take advantage of the new ratios in a public consultation which closed at the end of March. We have spoken to a number of early years and child care organisations and providers about our proposals to improve the quality of provision in the early years sector and how best to implement staff:child ratios.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether he has received representations from Ofsted in support of the relaxation of child care ratios;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with Ofsted and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education on the relaxation of child care ratios.

Elizabeth Truss: I have regular conversations with Her Majesty's chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, on this and other issues. Sir Michael has made clear that Ofsted considers highly qualified staff to be critical to ensuring high quality early years provision. In an article published in 'Nursery World' on 25 February 2013, Sir Michael said,
	"The facts are clear—highly skilled adults do a great deal to improve the vocabulary, cognitive and social skills of very young children, particularly when they are not able to gain them at home. It is the skill and knowledge of early years teachers and educators that counts more than how many are deployed in a setting. Qualified teachers have been able to work with more children aged three and four than staff who are not teachers for years, and it seems right to me that the government is thinking of extending this principle”.(1)
	(1)http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1172172/Exclusive-Why-I-believe-need-raise-qualifications/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

Children's Centres

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children's centres employed early years professionals as of (a) 6 May 2010 and (b) 6 May 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education collects information on the provision of child care through the annual Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey. This survey does not report the number of children's centres employing early years professionals. It does provide estimates for the proportion of staff who are early years professionals employed by children's centres which provide full day care. The estimates as a percentage by year are 5% in 2009, 7% in 2010, and 9% in 2011.
	These are the latest figures available to the Department. The survey is now undertaken every other year and the 2013 survey is due to be published in September 2014.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Government plan to publish a revised impact assessment on the proposed changes to the national curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: We will publish an equalities impact assessment for the new national curriculum, alongside our consultation on the draft statutory orders that will implement the new programmes of study, in the summer.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish the final programmes for study for Key Stage 1 to 3.

Elizabeth Truss: We are currently considering the outcome of the consultation on draft programmes of study which closed on 16 April 2013. We plan to publish revised versions of the programmes for consultation on the draft statutory orders in the summer. The final versions will be published in the autumn once the necessary parliamentary processes are complete. Schools will start teaching the new programmes of study from September 2014.

Departmental Responsibilities

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the stop lists of policy activity referred to in his Department's recent infrastructure and funding division newsletter.

Elizabeth Truss: As part of the Department review we have examined all areas of the Department's business to make sure that our resources are properly focused on ministerial priorities, and explored work which can be stopped, scaled back, or done differently. We will continue to do this on a regular basis as part of our commitment to reduce our administration budget, and to make sure that we continue to allocate our resources where they are needed most.
	The 'stop list' mentioned in the newsletter refers to this ongoing and developing work—we are therefore not in a position to publish a single, definite 'stop list'.

Education: Assessments

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the time taken in publication of assessment criteria on the development of learning resources.

Elizabeth Truss: We aim to publish the consultation on primary assessment and accountability under the new national curriculum by the end of the summer term. The first new statutory assessments of the new national curriculum will be in 2016.
	In advance of the consultation, we are continuing discussions with publishers, educational suppliers and representative bodies, to make sure that appropriate support is available to schools as they develop their own curriculum, assessment and reporting arrangements.

Pre-school Education

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what representations he has received advocating the delivery of free nursery education by child care providers rated as satisfactory without the involvement of the relevant local authority in ensuring good quality provision;
	(2)  what representations he has received advocating the guarantee of an offer of funding for new early education providers, which have been registered with Ofsted but not inspected, to deliver the free nursery entitlement;
	(3)  what representations he has received advocating the removal of the duty on local authorities to secure information, advice and training for child care providers;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of limiting the retention of free nursery entitlement funding by local authorities on the ability to provide services to child care providers, including training and special educational needs support.

Elizabeth Truss: The consultation on proposed changes to the role of the local authority in the delivery of funded early education, and in securing information advice and training for child care providers, closed on 6 May 2013. The Department received a large number of responses from a range of organisations, which it is currently analysing. The Government will publish their response to the consultation in due course.
	The Government are keen to maximise the level of funding that reaches the frontline to give early education and child care providers greater choice and flexibility when it comes to accessing training and support that meets their needs. In 2012-13, 113 local authorities retained less than 10% of their early years budget and nine retained centrally over 20%.
	The 'Early Years block' within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is not the only source of funding for activities to support high-quality inclusive early education. Provision for children with special education needs (SEN) can also be supported through the High Needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Funding is also still available through the Early Intervention Grant (now in the Business Rates Retention Scheme) into which a number of predecessor grants, including those for early years, were brought together.

Pre-school Education

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average number of hours of free entitlement was for (a) two-year-olds, where offered, (b) three-year-olds and (c) four-year-olds actually used per child in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: The average (mean) number of hours per week of funded early education received by three and four-year-olds in each of the last four years is given in the table.
	Information on funded hours is collected through the Early Years Census and School Census. The Department collects and funds local authorities based on the number of funded hours a child receives during the census week. A figure is not available for the average number of funded hours a child receives over the year.
	The Department does not have information on the number of funded hours received on average by two-year-olds. This information will be available for the first time from 2014, following the introduction of the statutory entitlement to early learning for two-year-olds from September 2014.
	It was only possible to provide data for the last four years. To provide further analysis covering five years would incur disproportionate costs.
	
		
			 Table 1: Mean number of hours of funded early education received by three and four-year-olds(1,2) —All schools and providers(3), England, January 2009 to January 2012 
			  Three-year-olds Four-year-olds(4) 
			 2009 11.6 19.8 
			 2010 12.4 20.5 
			 2011(5) 13.7 21.0 
			 2012 13.9 21.0 
			 (1) Children accessing their funded education across more than one provider will be counted separately at each provider. (2) Age as at 31 December in previous calendar year. (3) Includes maintained nursery, direct grant nursery, maintained primary schools, primary academies, maintained secondary schools, secondary academies, special schools, special academies, city technology colleges, pupil referral units, and private, voluntary and independent providers. Excludes general hospitals and non-maintained special schools. (4 )Figures for four-year-olds include those in maintained school reception classes. (5) From September 2010 the number of hours of funded early education was increased from 12.5 hours to 15 hours per week.

Pupil Exclusions

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take in response to the report of the Office of the Children's Commissioner entitled They Go The Extra Mile, published in March 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education is currently considering the Children's Commissioner's report, They Go The Extra Mile. A formal response to the recommendations made to the Department will be issued soon.

School Meals

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to monitor the take-up of school meals.

Elizabeth Truss: Monitoring the take-up of school meals is being considered as part of the School Food Plan, which is currently being prepared by the independent school food reviewers, Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent.
	Once the reviewers have completed the plan, we will consider any recommendations they make on this issue.

Schools

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools other than academies and free schools have been visited by each Minister in his Department since May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: This information is not held centrally. Therefore to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Schools

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effect of the introduction of new GCSEs and A-levels at the same time on the workload of schools.

Elizabeth Truss: The first new GCSEs and A-levels will be introduced from September 2015, which allows schools to see the full picture of academic qualification reform, alongside curriculum and accountability reform, at one time. We believe this will help schools plan. To support preparation, we expect specifications for the new qualifications to be available to schools from September 2014.
	To minimise the impact on schools, we are phasing in the changes to qualifications. Our priority is to reform the key academic subjects and, for A-levels, some of the high volume subjects. Changes to other subjects will follow over a longer timetable. Together with teacher associations, Ofqual and other key stakeholders we will monitor the impact of introducing new GCSEs and A-levels on schools.

Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies procured from companies based in Scotland of a value in excess of £25,000 since May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such procurement contract.

Elizabeth Truss: The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Special Educational Needs

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will request Ofsted to inspect specialist SEN support services for children with sensory impairments;
	(2)  what the outcome was of his Department's discussions with Ofsted on inspections of specialist SEN support service.

Edward Timpson: There is no plan to require Ofsted to inspect specialist SEN services as a matter of course.
	Ofsted already has the power to inspect the 'education functions' of any local authority. Provisions in the Children and Families Bill will ensure that this includes all local authority functions relating to children with special educational needs under part three of that Bill.
	Ofsted recently consulted on plans to introduce a new framework for the inspection of local authority school improvement functions where there are particular concerns. Discussions between the Department and Ofsted are continuing. These discussions will explore how concerns and local intelligence about SEN provision might be covered by these inspection arrangements. I expect to be able to provide further information about this approach during the next stage of the Bill.
	Ofsted regularly considers how well schools meet the needs of disabled pupils and those with SEN through both its mainstream and special schools inspections. Ofsted's inspection framework requires that inspectors consider the extent to which the school meets the needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Ofsted reports include details on specialist resource bases for sensory impairments where these are located within the school. In October 2012 Ofsted published a report called 'Communication is the Key' which surveyed good practice in services for deaf children.

Special Educational Needs

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information is available to parents of children with sensory impairments on the quality of support they receive from specialist SEN support services.

Edward Timpson: The main source of information for parents is regular, high-quality contact with their child's teacher, SEN co-ordinator and other specialist staff. This should include information on how well their child is progressing, the specialist support that is in place and how well this is meeting their child's needs.
	Parents can also use Ofsted reports. Ofsted's inspection framework requires that inspectors consider the extent to which the school meets the needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Ofsted reports include details on specialist resource bases for sensory impairments where these are located within the school.
	The Children and Families Bill, which is currently before Parliament, includes a requirement for local authorities and their partners to publish a 'local offer' of the support that is normally available to children and families in their area. This will increase the information that is available to parents, including parents' views on the provision available and the local authority's response to those views.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Clothing

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public body for which she is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not have an evening dress allowance.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she discussed increasing resources for nutrition-specific programmes at the World Bank spring meeting in Washington, USA.

Alan Duncan: At the recent spring meetings the UK sought commitments from the World Bank for it to use existing resources and make programmes nutrition sensitive. Nutrition-sensitive programmes are programmes across a range of sectors, for example social protection, agriculture or health, which are also designed to have a nutritional impact. The Bank has huge investments in agriculture and social protection which have significant untapped potential for nutritional impact. We would like to see the Bank use this portfolio of programmes to deliver nutrition outcomes.

Ethiopia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how UK bilateral aid to Ethiopia has been spent, by category of programme and expenditure, in each of the last three years.

Alan Duncan: The following table details how DFID's development support in Ethiopia has been spent in each of the last three years, according to category of programme, and whether it is resource or capital spending.
	
		
			 £000 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Pillar/strategic priority Resource Capital Resource Capital Resource Capital 
			 Wealth Creation 26,262 480 17,789 3,960 5,787 1,680 
			 Climate Change 3,516 — 4,320 — 6,628 1,684 
			 Governance and Security 18,561 3,800 19,097 3,800 12,877 — 
			 Education 75,882 — 64,630 — 70,489 — 
			 Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health 10,303 — 28,053 — 26,296 — 
			 Malaria 2,341 — 8,761 — 10,200 — 
			 HIV/Aids 5,048 — 722 — 1,146 — 
			 Other Health 19,159 — 40,507 — 51,254 — 
			 Water and Sanitation 5,460 15,200 4,993 15,200 5,646 — 
			 Poverty, Hunger and Vulnerability 42,601 3,520 14,409 39,040 21,498 13,238 
			 Humanitarian 6,130 — 57,010 — 32,043 — 
			 Other MDGs — — — — 534 — 
			 Global Partnerships 1,518 — 1,073 — 297 — 
			 Total 216,781 23,000 261,364 62,000 244,037 39,000 
			 Note: Figures for: 2010-11 and 2011-12 are out-turn; figures for 2012-13 are budgeted. 
		
	
	Further information on DFID Ethiopia's programmes can be found in the operational plan, at this web link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/67393/ethiopia-2011.pdf

Ghana

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how UK bilateral aid to Ghana has been spent, by category of programme and expenditure in each of the last three years.

Alan Duncan: The following table details DFID's development support in Ghana for the past three years, according to category of programme.
	
		
			 £000 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Pillar/Strategic priority Resource Capital Resource Capital Resource Capital 
			 Wealth Creation 14,689,372 — 5473729 — 27,686,756 — 
			 Climate Change 634,782 — 316,008 — 337,280 — 
			 Governance and Security 14,006,527 — 8,453,153 — 17,469,885 — 
			 Education 27,117,889 — 34,869,314 — 18,288,262 — 
			 Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health 4,573,039 — 4,801,039 — 1,121,745 — 
			 Malaria 7,001,108 — 4,750,738 —  — 
			 HIV/Aids 88,376 — 76,332 — 78,041 — 
			 Other Health 14,691,075 — 18,246,639 — 2,576,343 — 
			 Water and Sanitation — — — — — — 
			 Poverty, Hunger and Vulnerability 832,303 — 1,007,711 — — — 
			 Humanitarian — — — — — — 
			 Other MDGs — — — — — — 
			 Global Partnerships 282,808 — 390.050 — 857,745 — 
			 Total 83,917,280 — 78,384,712 — 48,252,955 —

Inflation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the purposes for which her Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation.

Alan Duncan: DFID uses monthly consumer price indices, published by the Office for National Statistics, to revalue its vehicles, furniture and equipment and IT equipment assets. These assets are reported in the Department's annual report and accounts. This revaluation is in accordance with the requirements on accounting for tangible assets, set out within the HM Treasury financial reporting manual.
	The consumer prices index (CPI) is also used for price indexation of public service pensions.

Nepal

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the Government of Nepal has declined funding from the UK Government to support their gender-based violence unit in the Prime Minister's Office.

Alan Duncan: Since 2010, the UK has worked very closely with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, in Nepal, to help establish a gender-based violence unit (GBV Unit) and develop a National Plan of Action to address gender-based violence. This GBV Unit is now fully funded by the Ministry of Finance, from Nepal's own public funds, and UK funds are therefore not required.
	Addressing violence against women and girls remains a key shared priority for the Government of Nepal and the UK. The UK is continuing work with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare to strengthen and support local level responses to gender-based violence and we are currently designing a larger scale justice programme which will have a particular focus on tackling violence against women and girls.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidance her Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in her Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Alan Duncan: DFID's disciplinary policy allows for the withdrawal of future non-consolidated performance related payments as one of a number of possible sanctions. There have been fewer than five cases in each of the last five years.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by her Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Alan Duncan: DFID has no regulatory function.

South Africa

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer of 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 92W on South Africa, 
	(1)  for what reasons the proportion of UK aid to South Africa spent on providing support to HIV and AIDS was increased from zero per cent to 50% in 2013;
	(2)  who was consulted on the decision to increase UK support to HIV and AIDS in South Africa from zero per cent in 2011-12 to 50% in 2012-13.

Lynne Featherstone: There was a tabulation error and the corrected table is provided here. UK aid to South Africa in 2011-12 and 2012-13 was £19 million. The categories of programme and expenditure are as follows:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  2011-12 2012-13 
			 Promoting growth and jobs 31 9 
			 Supporting South Africa's effort on Climate Change 11 6 
			 Tackling gender based violence and strengthening public sector performance 8 11 
			 Support to Maternal and New-born Health 0 24 
			 Support to HIV and AIDS 50 50 
			 Total 100 100 
		
	
	As the corrected table now shows, the increase in UK support was for maternal and new-born health to reverse the increasing maternal mortality ratio and under-five mortality in the country. In collaboration with the Government, a consultation was held with civil society and national and international academia during the design of the programme.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Afghan Government about (a) fully implementing the Elimination of Violence Against Woman Law, (b) increasing support for family responses units, (c) increasing the recruitment and retention of women in Afghan police forces, (d) increasing support for Afghan women human rights defenders and (e) ensuring the meaningful representation of Afghan women in any peace negotiations.

Alistair Burt: The information is as follows.
	(a) The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for International Development (DFID) are working together to ensure the Afghan Government implement their national and international human rights commitments and obligations, including the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Implementation of the Afghan Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW) was specifically included in the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF), the partnership between the Afghan Government and the international community. We, along with our international partners, will hold the Afghan Government to account for the commitments they have made. In Kabul, the Gender Donor Coordination Group (led by UN Women) and the Civil Society Support Group (led by UNAMA) are currently considering how the TMAF recommendations should be taken forward. The UK is represented on both groups.
	(b) The UK provides £7.1 million assistance to the Ministry of the Interior in Afghanistan, which includes support to work that is helping to protect and uphold women's rights, such as the development of the Afghan National Police's policy on promoting human rights and protecting women and women’s rights defenders from violence. Through our support to EUPOL, the European Police Mission to Afghanistan, the UK supports the Ministry of Interior in its efforts to increase the numbers and capacity of family response units across Afghanistan. Earlier this year, a Memorandum of Understanding between EUPOL, the Ministry of Interior and United Nations Development Programme was signed to this effect.
	(c) During her visit to Afghanistan 4-6 March, the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi discussed women's vital contribution to building peace, security and prosperity in Afghanistan with the Afghan Government and wider Afghan authorities, leading female parliamentarians and other Government and civil society representatives. In Helmand, Baroness Warsi visited the Provincial Police Headquarters and met female police officers who are contributing to the provision of security in their community.
	(d) We share the widespread concern about the attacks and intimidation faced by the dedicated and courageous women who work tirelessly to defend the rights and fundamental freedoms of others. This year the UK has provided £500,000 in funding to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to help it act to protect human rights defenders, investigate and catalogue violence, and support those seeking justice. The British embassy in Kabul monitors threats of violence towards human rights activists, with a particular focus on women. Where appropriate and useful to do so the British embassy in Kabul has issued statements condemning such violence, and raised concerns with senior interlocutors in the Government of Afghanistan.
	(e) We are committed to ensuring that women play as full a part as possible in securing a peaceful and prosperous future Afghanistan, and that the Afghan political system and Afghan-led peace process are inclusive and reflect the needs and aspirations of all Afghan citizens, including women and girls.

Afghanistan and Pakistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on public opinion in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Pakistan of unmanned aerial vehicle strikes.

Alistair Burt: The FCO has supported opinion surveys which looked at attitudes towards governance, religion and society in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). In 2010 and 2011, these surveys included a question related to “US drone strikes in the FATA”. The proportion of respondents that believed that drone strikes were never justified rose from 59% in 2010 to 63% in 2011. No other assessments of the effect of drone strikes on public opinion have been undertaken by the UK.

Altaf Hussain

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the activities of the leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement leader Altaf Hussain; and what his policy is on the activities of that group in the UK.

Alistair Burt: The activities of the Muttahida Quami Movement and Altaf Hussain are not a matter for the British Government, provided that they are lawful. The police are the appropriate body to investigate any allegations of criminal acts.

Bangladesh

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that requirements on health and safety in the workplace are taken into account in the conduct of trade with Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The terrible event of the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar has highlighted the importance of following the law, enforcing regulations and eliminating the underlying corruption that increases daily risk to innocent individuals in Bangladesh.
	The British Government are committed to improving living and working conditions in Bangladesh. The Ethical Trading Initiative, supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), improves the life of nearly 10 million workers, and the DFID-funded RAGS Fund is promoting the rights of garment workers.
	There is still much more to be done and everyone involved needs to play their part. This will involve close cooperation from all parties involved in the supply chain.

Bangladesh

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with (a) his European counterparts and (b) the European Commission on plans to use preferential trade access to encourage better health and safety regulations in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has had no recent discussions with his European counterparts or the European Commission on plans to use preferential trade access to encourage better health and safety regulations in Bangladesh.
	The preferential trade access is a policy which is owned by the Department for International Development.

Bangladesh

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the killing of large numbers of peaceful protestors in Shapla Square, Dhaka, Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The British Government are very concerned about the recent violent protests and deaths in Bangladesh. There have been a number of outbreaks of violent unrest in Bangladesh since mid-February, resulting in approximately 200 deaths to end April. We continue to monitor the situation closely.
	On the specific 5-6 May violence, we have calls for the Government of Bangladesh to conduct an impartial, transparent, investigation into the violence. The British high commissioner in Dhaka issued a statement on 6 May, urging all parties to restrain from violence or excessive use of force, and to substitute dialogue for confrontation.
	The Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi raised concerns about recent violence with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister most recently in a meeting on 25 April. On 13 March, she issued a statement expressing the UK's concerns and urged all sides to exercise restraint, moderation and respect for rule of law.
	The British Government respect the right for all citizens to hold their Government to account, including through legitimate and peaceful protests. We hope that citizens are able to freely raise their concerns or grievances through peaceful means, without fear of retaliation or attack.

British Nationals Abroad: Death

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 25 April 2013, Official Report, columns 1049-50W, on British nationals abroad: deaths, what the nature is of the assistance provided by his Department to families in such cases.

Mark Simmonds: The range of support the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can provide in the cases of British nationals killed or murdered abroad is described in its publication, “Support for British Nationals Abroad”. This can be found on the Gov.uk website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-british-nationals-abroad-a-guide
	I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Senior Minister of State right hon. Baroness Warsi PC, to the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, on 23 April 2013, Official Report,House of Lords, column 1350.

Buildings

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total running costs were for each building used, owned or rented in central London by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last three financial years.

David Lidington: The following table shows the net running costs according to Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) records for each of the separate buildings used, owned or rented by the FCO for the last three financial years. This includes buildings leased by the FCO’s arm’s length bodies.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Building Occupier Owned/rented 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 King Charles Street FCO Owned 12,568,814 12,357,495 12,210,850 
			 Old Admiralty Building FCO Owned 5,407,734 5,119,293 5,100,071 
			 1 Carlton Gardens FCO Rented 729,956 742,678 697,385 
		
	
	
		
			 Lancaster House FCO Rented 2,692,473 2,568,011 2,538,341 
			 Centre Point FCO(1) Rented 209,000 216,000 224,000 
			 Artillery House WFD(2) Rented 100,500 100,500 150,179 
			 15 Belgrave Square GBCC(3) Rented 49,542 42,502 46,193 
			 Spring Gardens BRICO(4) Rented 5,667,000 5,422,000 5,637,746 
			 (1) Building vacated in May 2013. (2) Westminster Foundation for Democracy. (3) Great Britain China Centre. (4) British Council 2012-13 figure shown net of subletting income. 
		
	
	The FCO has two Executive agencies, neither of which rent or own buildings in central London. FCO Services provides technical and logistic support to the Department and its staff are housed in King Charles Street, the Old Admiralty Building and Lancaster House. The cost of their accommodation is not separately recorded. The Wilton Park conference centre is housed in rented premises near Steyning, West Sussex. No Wilton Park staff are permanently based in any part of the FCO's central London estate.

Colombia

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Colombia about the death threat received by the Patriotic March member, Martha Cecilia Díaz Suárez and her two daughters from the paramilitary group Los Rastrojos in the form of two mutilated and red painted dolls.

Hugo Swire: We have received many reports of threats and violent attacks against members of the Patriotic March movement. Officials at the British embassy in Bogota have raised several of these cases with the Colombian Government, including threats against Carlos Lozano and the disappearance of Hernán Henry Díaz. The British ambassador to Colombia met leaders of the March in Bogota this year.

Fiji

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Fiji about that country's human rights record;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Fiji about the status of Fiji within the Commonwealth;
	(3)  what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Fiji about the effects on Fiji of its suspension from the Commonwealth;
	(4)  what his policy is on the readmission of Fiji to the Commonwealth; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Fiji with the Fijian authorities, including Ministers, the civil service, Police Commissioners and election bodies. In view of the seriousness of the human rights situation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has included Fiji as a 'country of concern' in its Annual Report on Human Rights for both 2011 and 2012.
	Further, in consultation with the British high commission in Suva, the local EU delegation has issued a number of statements on the human rights situation in Fiji, including: concern around the political parties' registration decree; investigations into allegations of torture; and the importance of freedom of expression and assembly. We have also encouraged the local EU delegation to raise these issues with the Fijian Foreign Minister which it did most recently earlier this month. We are encouraging the EU to pursue a dialogue on criteria for EU election observers. In view of the lack of democratic progress, EU development assistance to Fiji remains suspended.
	Fiji remains suspended from the Commonwealth until it returns to democracy. Our view is that should democracy in Fiji be restored through free and fair elections, we stand ready to consider further assistance and look forward to the day Fiji is re-instated as a full member of the Commonwealth family. I used my visit to the region last month to make public statements on these points. I have spoken along similar lines to the Fijian high commissioner in London.
	I have encouraged the Commonwealth Secretary-General to continue his organisation's outreach to Fiji to discuss assistance that Fiji would need to enable a return to democracy. The British high commission in Suva met a Commonwealth Secretariat needs-assessment mission that recently visited Fiji.
	In relation to all of these issues, we continue to work closely with our partners in the region, including Australia and New Zealand.

G4S

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the current level of expenditure by his Department is on contracts with G4S; and how much was spent by his Department on contracts with G4S in each year since 2008.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has over 40 contracts with G4S globally. For the current financial year, these are valued at £36 million approximately per annum. The highest value centrally managed contracts are for the provision of armed static and mobile security services in Afghanistan (£25 million this financial year), guarding services in the UK (£4.5 million per annum) and armed mobile security services in Somalia (over £1 million per annum). The balance of the expenditure is on a number of smaller contracts worldwide. These overseas contracts are also widely used by our other Government Departments, and partially funded/recharged accordingly.
	FCO spend with G4S has been as follows since financial year:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2009-10 23 
			 2010-11 28 
			 2011-12 30 
			 2012-13 31 
		
	
	The spend figures for 2008-09 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has performance procedures where a performance related pay (PRP/bonus) is only paid to a qualifying member of staff. There are robust misconduct procedures where the suspension or removal of a PRP/bonus payment could be imposed as a penalty for an act or acts of gross misconduct where dismissal was not appropriate. In such circumstances, the member of staff would be notified in writing and the full amount would be deducted from the next available pay day.
	In the last five years there have been fewer than five cases where action has been taken to suspend or remove a bonus payment. For reasons of confidentiality, and to avoid the possibility of revealing the identities of individual staff, the FCO, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, does not disclose more detailed information when overall numbers amount to fewer than five.
	Central records are not held centrally for locally employed staff in our overseas posts and to obtain such data would incur disproportionate costs.

Publications

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on subscriptions to academic journals published by (a) Reed-Elsevier, (b) Wiley-Blackwell, (c) Springer and (d) any other academic publisher in each of the last five years.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spend on subscriptions to academic journals via official suppliers is as follows for the years 2009-2012:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Publisher 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 (a) Reed-Elsevier 0 0 0 0 
			 (b) Wiley-Blackwell (John Wiley and sons) 9,959 6,827 8,495 5,939 
		
	
	
		
			 (c) Springer 165 0 0 0 
			 (d) Other academic 21,463 16,200 16,564 18,981 
		
	
	Spend for 2008 is not currently available.
	Subscriptions to academic journals provide FCO staff with access to external opinion and analysis and an awareness of current issues. This knowledge contributes to informed decision making and enables staff to engage with contacts across and outside Government.

Russia

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Russian Government regarding the detention and trial of Alexei Navalny.

David Lidington: We are concerned that a number of prominent opposition politicians have faced criminal and administrative charges in Russia in the last year. Many observers have suggested that these cases are politically motivated. Senior officials raised the ongoing charges against Alexei Navalny at the 2013 UK-Russia Human Rights Dialogue which was held in Moscow on 8 May. We are following developments in the case closely.

Russia

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations his Department has made to the Russian Government on (a) human rights, (b) the independence of the judiciary and (c) the arrest and prosecution of political opposition figures.

David Lidington: At the 2013 UK-Russia Human Rights Dialogue held in Moscow on 8 May, the UK delegation set out our concerns about recent human rights developments in Russia including the arrest and prosecution of political opposition figures, and that such action was undermining the rule of law in Russia. We also continue to raise concerns at ministerial level. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the right hon. Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), did so during talks with Foreign Minister Lavrov in London in March, and I did the same when I met Deputy Foreign Minister Titov in Moscow in February.

Somalia

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to prevent sexual violence in Somalia.

Mark Simmonds: Britain is working closely with the Federal Government of Somalia and the UN Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, to address sexual violence in Somalia. We welcome the Federal Government's invitation, issued at the Somalia Conference on 7 May, for a UN team of experts to visit at the earliest opportunity, and look forward to the team's subsequent report and recommendations. On 1 May, the UK and United Arab Emirates announced £2 million of joint funding for training and capacity building support to the Federal Government of Somalia in order to assist with the implementation of the report's recommendations.

Somalia

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the representation of women's issues at the conference on Somalia held on 7 May 2013.

Mark Simmonds: The single biggest challenge facing women in Somalia remains the impact of conflict and insecurity. The Somalia Conference focused on how the international community could better support the Federal Government of Somalia in providing better security for their citizens, thereby helping to protect the most vulnerable members of society.
	Preventing sexual violence was also an important theme at the Somalia Conference, following the request made by the Somali Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam, for UK assistance on this issue during her visit to the UK in January. During the conference, the Federal Government and the UN signed a joint communiqué representing their commitment to tackle sexual violence in Somalia. The UK will continue to work with both parties to progress this work.

Somalia

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with representatives of Somali women prior to the conference on Somalia held on 7 May 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: Together with the Department for International Development and the Home Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted a seminar on 29 April in which prominent civil society members from Somalia and the UK diaspora came together to discuss issues facing women in Somalia today. The event demonstrated the importance the British Government place on the empowerment of Somali women as a core component of our engagement in Somalia.
	I chaired a session focusing on the issue of violence against women and girls in conflict and listened to the concerns and advice that these women had for both the UK and for Somalia. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) opened this event and spoke on women's empowerment, while the Under-Secretary of State for International Development, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) chaired the final session on female genital mutilation and forced marriage. A report of the main conclusions from this seminar was placed in the delegate packs for all those who attended the Somalia Conference on 7 May.
	During his visit to Mogadishu on 2 May, in advance of the Somalia Conference, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), held a roundtable with prominent civil society representatives and members of the Federal Government of Somalia to discuss, first hand, issues faced by women in Somalia.

Somalia

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions will be taken with regard to protecting and advancing women's rights in Somalia as a result of the conference on Somalia on 7 May 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: The British Government place great importance on gender equality and on the empowerment of Somali women as a core component of UK engagement in Somalia. Protection of human rights, including women's rights, formed important components of the plans presented by the Federal Government of Somalia at the London Somalia Conference on 7 May. Together with international partners, Britain will be working closely with the Somali Government to implement these plans.
	The UK looks forward to working with the Federal Government of Somalia, the UN and other international partners to support these recommendations. On 1 May, the UK and United Arab Emirates announced £2 million of joint funding for training and capacity building support to the Federal Government of Somalia in order to assist with the implementation of the report's recommendations.
	During the Somalia Conference, the UN Deputy Secretary General and the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict signed a joint communiqué with the Federal Government of Somalia committing to joint work to tackle sexual violence in Somalia. The UN Special Representative's team will visit Somalia in the summer and make recommendations for practical steps that can be taken to improve Somalia's rule of law systems to prosecute crimes of sexual violence and to support victims.

Syria

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that no UK companies are (a) directly and (b) indirectly involved in selling goods to the Assad regime in Syria; and what discussions he has had with his (i) US, (ii) French and (iii) German counterparts to ensure that companies from those countries are not selling goods to that regime.

Alistair Burt: The British Government have led the way in introducing EU Measures against the Syrian regime, including against President Assad. All items currently prohibited under the EU Syria sanctions are listed in the official journal of the EU.
	http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:330:0021:0051:EN:PDF
	This means that no UK company can sell these goods to or buy them from the Assad regime.
	We discuss the evolving situation in Syria with our international partners on a regular basis at ministerial and official level. This includes conversations with the US, France and Germany on ensuring that all appropriate restrictive measures are being taken against the Assad regime.

UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the UN Security Council for a human rights requirement to be included in the future mandate of MINURSO.

Alistair Burt: We continue to make clear, in discussions at the UN Security Council, the importance of full respect for human rights and note that the latest Security Council Resolution on MINURSO added a new emphasis on human rights, encouraging Morocco and the Polisario to continue in their respective efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps.